Pope Leo left Gemelli hospital in Rome on Saturday afternoon after doctors cleared him to go home following an operation to remove a cancerous tumour from his lung, The Guardian reports.
The 71-year-old walked out of the building without assistance and was met with cheers from supporters gathered outside, according to the newspaper. He had been admitted on Tuesday, when surgeons took out part of his right lung to extract the tumour.
In a statement released by the Vatican, his doctors Luigi Carbone and Stefano Margaritora said the pope had been judged "fit for discharge" after reviewing his blood test results, a chest X-ray taken that morning and his overall clinical condition, The Guardian reports.
Before leaving, Leo celebrated mass in his room on the hospital's 10th floor. The Vatican said he is scheduled to lead the Angelus prayer on Sunday from the window of the papal apartment.
Why it matters
Leo became the first US-born leader of the Roman Catholic church in May last year. His hospital stay put the health of the sitting pope back at the centre of Vatican coverage, and it revived a long-running debate about how much the Holy See discloses about papal illness. The New York Times reports that uncertainty over the pope's condition has fuelled the familiar argument over the Vatican's candour.
The episode also began with an unusual moment of openness. During the Angelus the previous week, Leo told the crowd in St Peter's Square that a small nodule had been found on his lung during a check-up, The Guardian reports. That disclosure preceded the surgery.
Recovery timeline and open questions
Doctors said on Wednesday that Leo was recovering normally from the procedure, according to The Guardian. They are still waiting for test results that will show whether the cancer has spread and whether further treatment will be required.
The hospital stay ran shorter than the Vatican had first expected. Officials had estimated about a week, and the pope's appointments were cancelled through 20 October, The Guardian reports.
Leo kept working from the hospital during his stay. On Friday he telephoned Vladimir Putin and pressed the Russian president to agree to a ceasefire in Oleshky, a Ukrainian city under Russian occupation, according to The Guardian.
His surgeon, Stefano Margaritora, told Vatican media on Saturday that nothing clinical stood in the way of the pope making a planned trip to Latin America from 6 to 17 November. He said Leo had committed himself fully to his recovery and should be back to normal roughly 10 days after the operation.
On the prospect of long-haul air travel about three weeks from now, Margaritora told Vatican News there were no medical grounds to rule it out, The Guardian reports.
Before the diagnosis, Leo was widely regarded as being in good health. He is known to enjoy sport, tennis in particular, and frequently stays at the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo near Rome, according to The Guardian.
Gemelli, in the north-west of the Italian capital, has a long association with treating popes. John Paul II was admitted there so often that the Vatican and the hospital jointly set up a secure suite reserved for the pontiff, The Guardian reports.
What to watch
The next signals will be the pathology results on whether the cancer has spread, the pope's appearance at Sunday's Angelus, and whether the November Latin America trip goes ahead as planned.
