“Now that this delicate phase is behind me, I will gradually resume my activities, always with God’s help and your prayers,” Leo said during his Sunday address, according to Al Jazeera.
The 71-year-old pontiff’s return answered the most immediate question surrounding the Vatican after he revealed that a lung nodule had been found and surgically removed. The operation confirmed adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer, while test results to determine whether the cancer has spread are still pending.
Leo told the crowd that the past week had made him feel especially close to people facing illness and infirmity. He said he had “truly felt your support” and thanked the doctors, nurses and staff at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, where he was treated.
The scene in the square mixed relief with suspension. A pope was back at the window, waving and speaking briefly, but the fuller medical picture the Vatican has disclosed is still incomplete.
That leaves practical questions as well as personal ones. Al Jazeera reported doubts over whether a planned papal trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru in November would go ahead. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said Leo might need to adjust the pace of his schedule according to his health, while Leo’s surgeon, Stefano Margaritora, told Vatican News he saw “no clinical reasons” the trip should not proceed.
After the blessing, a delegation from Africa in Rome for a Catholic meeting danced and ululated. “He was always in our prayers when he was sick, and we are happy to see him today,” Alain Kalembu of the Democratic Republic of the Congo said. “This is an expression of our joy.”
Leo then paused, waved, and retreated into his apartment in the Apostolic Palace.
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