ROME: Pope Leo XIV is leaving the Rome hospital where he has been recovering from lung cancer surgery after doctors declared him "fit for discharge", the Vatican said on Saturday, according to an AFP report carried by Dawn.
The 71-year-old pontiff had been at the Gemelli hospital since Tuesday, where surgeons removed part of his right lung to extract a cancerous tumour.
In a note published by the Vatican, doctors Luigi Carbone and Stefano Margaritora said blood tests, a morning chest X-ray and his overall clinical picture showed he was ready to go home. The Vatican said he would return in the early afternoon and recite the Angelus prayer on Sunday from the window of the papal apartment.
His doctors say recovery is progressing normally while they await test results that will determine further treatment. On Friday, Leo phoned Russian President Vladimir Putin to urge a ceasefire in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky.
A planned papal trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from November 6 to 17 remains uncertain. The pope himself disclosed last Sunday that a routine check-up had found a nodule that doctors advised removing.
More on Dawn.