{"id":9623,"date":"2026-10-18T11:54:56","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T11:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=9623"},"modified":"2026-10-18T11:54:56","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T11:54:56","slug":"faithful-gather-to-welcome-pope-leo-back-for-sunday-blessing-after-cancer-surgery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=9623","title":{"rendered":"Faithful gather to welcome Pope Leo back for Sunday blessing after cancer surgery"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pope Leo XIV blesses the crowd from the window of the apostolic palace overlooking St. Peter’s square during the Angelus prayer, Oct. 18, a day after his return to the Vatican following a surgery to remove a cancerous tumor in his right lung. AFP-Yonhap<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

VATICAN CITY \u2014 Catholic faithful converged on St. Peter\u2019s Square on Sunday to welcome Pope Leo XIV back to the Vatican after surgery to remove a tumor from his lung.<\/p>\n

Leo is delivering the traditional Angelus blessing, his first official appointment since being released from the hospital on Saturday, four days after cancer surgery.<\/p>\n

The 71-year-old pontiff had the lower lobe of his right lung removed on Tuesday in the first major health event of his 17-month pontificate. The surgery confirmed he had adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer.<\/p>\n

He told a reporter in English that he was doing \u2018\u2019much better\u2019\u2019 as he drove away from Rome\u2019s Gemelli hospital to return to the Vatican, well ahead of the weeklong hospital stay than had been initially anticipated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t believe it, because he was just operated on the other day,\u201d said Cosimo Mastrocinque, a retired factory worker visiting the Vatican from the southern region of Puglia. \u201cIt is a miracle that he recovered already.\u201d<\/p>\n

American tourists were especially eager to pray alongside the first pope born in the United States. Marla Marsala of Michigan was supposed to attend a Mass with the pope last week that was canceled due to his hospitalization.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2019I am just happy that we are praying with him today instead of for him, like we were before,\u2019\u2019 Marsala said. “It was a tough week for all of the people who love him, which are many. He seems like a very strong soul. So I think he will pull through and fight it, and succeed and keep doing the wonderful work he is doing.”<\/p>\n

Claire Holland from Jacksonville, Florida, said she felt \u201cvery blessed\u201d to be present for the pope\u2019s return to his flock.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so happy that he has recovered so quickly. I think there have been millions and millions of prayers. And he is a strong determined man, and I am so happy that he is feeling well enough to do this,\u201d Holland said.<\/p>\n

Leo’s next major engagement is an ambitious Nov. 6-17 trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, including a dozen flights and two helicopter rides to high altitudes. His surgeon, Dr. Stefano Margaritora, told Vatican News on Saturday that there are \u201cno clinical reasons\u201d to preclude the trip.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Holy Father has put his heart and soul into his recovery,\u201d Margaritora told Vatican News, adding that he expected the pope to recover fully from surgery \u201cin another 10 days or so.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs for a long trip involving air travel in about three weeks, I would say there are no clinical reasons why it should not take place,\u201d Margaritora said.<\/p>\n

Histological testing of the tumor and related lymph nodes was underway. The results, along with details of the tumor\u2019s molecular and genetic makeup, will help doctors determine whether the pope needs additional treatment. Options include chemotherapy, a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy, or targeted oral therapy based on the tumor\u2019s genetic characteristics.<\/p>\n

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Pope Leo XIV blesses the crowd from the window of the apostolic palace overlooking St. Peter’s square during the Angelus prayer, Oct. 18, a day after his return to the Vatican following a surgery to remove a cancerous tumor in his right lung. AFP-Yonhap VATICAN CITY \u2014 Catholic faithful converged on St. Peter\u2019s Square on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9624,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-korea","category-trending-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t