ROME — Pope Leo XIV waved to a crowd as he left a Rome hospital and returned to the Vatican on Saturday afternoon, four days after he underwent lung cancer surgery, Vatican officials said.
Leo’s departure, after a surgery described as successful by his doctors — in which a malignant nodule and part of his right lung were removed — comes after postoperative blood tests and chest X-rays performed early Saturday indicated he was fit for discharge, officials added. In what was the first public glimpse of the pope since his admission, he walked assuredly, wore a smile and exchanged a few words with well-wishers as he exited the hospital in front of a cheering crowd.