Pope Leo XIV left Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Saturday, four days after surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung, and the growth they took out was cancerous.

The 71-year-old walked to his car without assistance and stopped to speak to people who had gathered to see him, Hiru News reported at 9.23 p.m. Colombo time. Asked about his health as he was driven away, he said he was feeling “much better”, Al Jazeera reported.

The diagnosis this desk left open a week ago

When this desk reported the Pope’s own announcement of the surgery on 11 October, it recorded that neither filing then available said what kind of nodule was found, whether it was benign or malignant, or whether a biopsy had been performed. That question is now answered.

The growth was an adenocarcinoma, which Al Jazeera describes as the most common type of lung cancer.

This is not in itself a contradiction of what the Pope told pilgrims in St Peter’s Square on 11 October — he said a “localized nodule” had been found, that it was “detected at a very early stage and is well contained,” and an early-stage adenocarcinoma is consistent with that description. What has changed is that the growth is now confirmed malignant rather than unclassified.

The surgery was carried out on Tuesday. Hiru, citing foreign media reports, puts its duration at about 90 minutes.

What is still being established

Doctors said blood tests and a chest X-ray carried out on the morning of his discharge confirmed that his condition allowed him to leave hospital, and that his recovery was continuing to improve.

One significant question remains open. Hiru reports that the results of further tests to establish whether the cancer has spread elsewhere have not yet been released. Neither filing gives a staging, a prognosis, or any indication of whether follow-up treatment is planned.

He kept working from the ward

The Pope did not stop work during the four days. He held a telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, in which the Vatican says he stressed dialogue and peace — reported by both outlets. Al Jazeera adds that he also met senior aides, celebrated mass in a makeshift chapel at the hospital, and thanked the staff there for caring for “the sick in their fragility.”

He is scheduled to resume public duties immediately, delivering the traditional Angelus prayer and blessing at St Peter’s Square on Sunday (18th), the Vatican said.

Al Jazeera reports that a major Latin America trip is scheduled for mid-November — leaving roughly three weeks of recovery before a journey involving around a dozen flights and two helicopter transfers. Neither filing says whether that itinerary is under review.

Leo is the first United States-born pope, from Chicago, and a naturalised Peruvian citizen after decades working in South America. This was the first health scare of his papacy.

Not reported

Neither filing names the surgical team, gives the staging of the tumour, or says when the further test results are expected. Neither says whether the Pope will reduce his schedule during recovery, nor whether the November Latin America trip will go ahead as planned.