Pope Leo XIV leaves Gemelli hospital four days after lung cancer surgery, will lead Sunday's Angelus

Pope Leo XIV was due to leave Rome's Gemelli hospital in the early afternoon of Saturday 17 October and return to the Vatican, four days after surgery to remove part of his right lung, CBS News reported.

The 71-year-old was diagnosed with lung cancer earlier in the week. He had been expected to stay in hospital until 20 October.

Cleared by his doctors

The Vatican said his personal physician and surgeon judged him "fit for discharge from the hospital" after blood tests, a chest X-ray and a clinical check on Saturday morning. Doctors had reported "steady improvement in his recovery" on Friday, and he had resumed some work on Thursday.

Working from his hospital room

The pope has kept a working schedule. On Friday he spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin and raised concern about the humanitarian situation in Oleshky in southern Ukraine, according to CBS. He also met Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, dean of the College of Cardinals, and Cardinal Baldassare Reina, his vicar for the Diocese of Rome. The Vatican released photos of him saying Mass in a small hospital chapel.

What comes next

• Sunday 18 October: the pope leads the Angelus prayer from the window of the papal apartment, at noon Rome time, which is 3pm in Pakistan.
• November: a planned trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. Journalists were accredited for the papal flight on Friday, a sign the Vatican still expects it to go ahead.

Leo XIV, born Robert Prevost in Chicago, is the first pope from the United States.