Pope Leo’s recovery from lung cancer surgery ‘progressing as planned’
Pontiff has begun walking in his hospital room and is eating normally after operation to remove growth, doctors say
Pope Leo’s recovery from a lung cancer operation is progressing as planned, his doctors have said, as the pontiff received good wishes from around the world, including a letter from Britain’s King Charles.
A blood test and chest x-ray showed “normal post-operative progress” and the values were “within the expected range for the type of procedure performed”, they said.
The cancer diagnosis for Leo, who was elected the first US-born leader of the Roman Catholic church in May 2025, has come as a shock.
Messages have been sent from around the world. King Charles, who is also being treated for an undisclosed form of cancer, would write to Leo privately, a source told Agence France-Presse. Charles and Queen Camilla met the pope when they travelled to the Vatican in October last year.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said he and his wife, Jeanette, were praying for Leo. The couple met the pontiff at the Vatican in May. There has been no reaction yet from Donald Trump, who clashed with Leo earlier this year over the US-Israeli war in Iran, or from the US vice-president, JD Vance, a Catholic.
Before the operation, all of Leo’s appointments until 20 October had been cancelled. He went on a papal trip to France in September and is scheduled to go to South America in November for a 12-day trip covering 10 cities.
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- Pontiff has begun walking in his hospital room and is eating normally after operation to remove growth, doctors say
- Pope Leo’s recovery from a lung cancer operation is progressing as planned, his doctors have said, as the pontiff received good wishes from around the world, including a letter from Britain’s King Charles.
- A blood test and chest x-ray showed “normal post-operative progress” and the values were “within the expected range for the type of procedure performed”, they said.
- The cancer diagnosis for Leo, who was elected the first US-born leader of the Roman Catholic church in May 2025, has come as a shock.
- Messages have been sent from around the world. King Charles, who is also being treated for an undisclosed form of cancer, would write to Leo privately, a source told Agence France-Presse. Charles and Queen Camilla met the pope when they tra