A cardboard cutout of Pope Leo XIV is displayed inside the main church in Saña, in the Lambayeque region of northern Peru, on October 13, 2026. (Photo by ERNESTO BENAVIDES / AFP)
Pope walking, eating as doctors report 'normal' progress
Note: AI technology was used to generate this article’s audio.
- A portion of the 71-year-old pontiff's right lung was removed; biopsy results will determine if the cancer spread
- The Pope celebrated Mass on Wednesday in his 10th-floor hospital room while the papal suite undergoes updates
- Public audiences are canceled through October 20, casting uncertainty on a planned South America trip
Pope Leo XIV is out of bed, walking around his room, and eating as he recovers from surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his lung, according to doctors at Rome's Gemelli hospital on Wednesday.
A portion of the 71-year-old pontiff's right lung was removed during Tuesday's operation.
Doctors Luigi Carbone and Stefano Margaritora confirmed in a Vatican-issued statement that blood tests and a chest X-ray "confirm a normal post-operative course" with values remaining within the expected range for the procedure.
The leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics is now awaiting the results of a biopsy to determine whether the cancer has spread, though Vatican officials previously stated the tumor was detected early and remained localized.
Following the operation, the Pope ate both breakfast and lunch, performed respiratory physiotherapy, and even celebrated Mass on Wednesday in a specially prepared room on the hospital's 10th floor while the main papal suite's chapel undergoes refurbishment.
The Chicago-born Pope, elected last year as the first pontiff from the United States, made a surprise announcement regarding his upcoming surgery after Sunday prayers.
Messages of support have poured in globally, including from Britain's King Charles III, who is also undergoing treatment for an undisclosed cancer. Well-wishers and faithful gathered outside the hospital and in its chapel to offer prayers for his health.
The discovery of cancer in a pope widely viewed as active and athletic has introduced sudden uncertainty within the Catholic Church.
Experts noted that his recovery could impact internal Church administration, potential personnel appointments, and his scheduled 11-day visit next month to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru, where he previously served as a missionary.
