Global News Edmonton has reported:

Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to leave hospital in the early afternoon Saturday, four days after surgery to remove the lower lobe of his right lung, the Vatican said. The 71-year-old pontiff is expected to return to the Vatican and deliver the traditional noon blessing Sunday from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.

Doctors had identified a suspected cancerous nodule in Leo’s lung. The operation on Tuesday confirmed adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer. In a separate statement, his personal physician and surgeon said he was “deemed fit for discharge from the hospital” after reviewing blood test results, a chest X-ray taken Saturday morning and his clinical condition.

Leo told faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square last Sunday that doctors had found a nodule on his lung and that it would be removed. Since the surgery, he has spoken by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, met with top aides and celebrated Mass in a hospital chapel, offering signs of a strong recovery.

Medical updates from his physician and surgeon have described a good post-operative recovery. They said Leo had been able to carry on “normal daily activities completely on his own.” The Vatican had initially estimated that he would spend a week in hospital and cancelled his audiences through Tuesday. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the discharge date would be decided by the pope’s doctors.

The Vatican released the first images of Leo since the operation on Friday. They showed him standing at an altar in a hospital chapel, wearing green vestments. Doctors said tests confirmed his “continued improvement.” Bruni said Leo presided alone over the liturgy and distributed Communion to medical personnel and Vatican gendarmes who were present.

Leo also delivered a homily thanking hospital staff “for the work they do every day taking care of the sick in their fragility, and in a particular way what they had done for him,” Bruni said. The Vatican has not yet disclosed the full medical findings. Doctors are awaiting test results to determine the cancer’s precise molecular and genetic makeup, whether it has spread beyond the removed lung lobe and whether further treatment will be needed.

The pope’s next major agenda item is a trip to Latin America scheduled for Nov. 6 to 17. It is planned to include a dozen flights and two helicopter trips, leaving him three more weeks to recover before the journey. On Friday, the Vatican published the names of journalists accredited to fly on Leo’s plane, signalling that preparations are proceeding. Oncology surgeons say protocols generally clear patients to fly after three weeks if their recovery allows.