Pope Leo to Leave Hospital and Return to Vatican Saturday

Pope Leo XIV is set to leave Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Saturday and return to the Vatican, four days after surgery to remove the lower lobe of his right lung. The Vatican said doctors considered him fit for discharge after reviewing blood tests, a chest X-ray and his clinical condition. The Vatican said Leo would leave in the early afternoon and recite the Angelus prayer from a window of the papal apartment on Sunday, October 18. The appearance is scheduled to be his first public one since the operation. On Friday, the Vatican had confirmed that he would deliver the prayer but had not yet specified where it would take place. Doctors Luigi Carbone and Stefano Margaritora said the latest tests showed continued improvement. Leo’s recovery allows him to carry out normal daily activities independently, according to their medical update. He has also been receiving respiratory physiotherapy. The Vatican released the first photographs of Leo since the surgery on Friday, showing him celebrating Mass in a room arranged as a chapel at Gemelli. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Leo presided over the liturgy, distributed Communion to medical personnel and Vatican gendarmes, and thanked...