Pope Leo Leaves Hospital Four Days After Surgery

October 17, 2026 9:37 am

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo has left Rome’s Gemelli hospital four days after undergoing surgery for lung cancer. Dozens of well-wishers greeted the pope as he walked out of the hospital on Saturday and into a waiting vehicle to return to the Vatican. The 71-year-old pontiff had the lower lobe of his right lung removed after doctors identified a suspected cancerous nodule. The surgery confirmed he had adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer.