Pope Leo out of bed, progress 'normal', doctors say after lung operation

Pope Leo XIV is out of bed, walking and eating following an operation to remove a cancerous tumour from his lung, and has undergone post-surgery tests which show his progress is “normal”, his doctors said on Wednesday. Part of the pope’s right lung was removed in Tuesday’s operation at Rome’s Gemelli hospital and the leader of the world’s 1. 4 billion Catholics is now awaiting the results of a biopsy to determine if the cancer has spread. Blood tests and a chest X-ray meanwhile “confirm a normal post-operative course”, doctors Luigi Carbone and Stefano Margaritora said in a statement released on Wednesday by the Vatican. “The values are within the expected range for the type of procedure performed,” they said. The discovery on Tuesday that Leo’s nodule was cancerous plunged the Catholic Church into a period of uncertainty.

But a day later, his doctors said his recovery was “proceeding as expected” and the pontiff had eaten both breakfast and lunch, been walking about his room, and had done some respiratory physiotherapy. “It’s a shock for everyone. We’re in ‘wait-and-see’ mode,” a Vatican source told AFP . The sporty 71-year-old, who was elected as the first American pope only last year, made the surprise announcement that he would be undergoing surgery after Sunday prayers. Prayers for recovery Messages of support flooded in from around the world, including from Britain’s King Charles III, who is also being treated for an undisclosed cancer. Flying outside the hospital north of the Vatican, a banner read “Long live the pope! ” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif prayed for a speedy recovery of Pope Leo XIV following his surgery. “On behalf of the people and government of Pakistan, I wish him strength, comfort and a speedy recovery,” the prime minister said in a post on X. He…