Vatican City: Pope Leo XIV has been pictured
celebrating Mass from hospital, in the first images released by the Vatican
since he underwent lung surgery.
The 71-year-old pontiff was diagnosed with
lung cancer after the operation, which the Vatican said had been
"successful" and proceeded without complications, at Rome's Gemelli
Hospital on Tuesday afternoon. The images shared on Friday showed the
Chicago-born Pope wearing green vestments while standing behind a makeshift
altar on the tenth floor of the hospital. The head of the Roman Catholic Church
"celebrated with the medical and nursing staff" and thanked workers
for their service, the Vatican press office said.
Also on Friday, the Pope phoned Russian
President Vladimir Putin from hospital to urge a ceasefire in the
Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky, where access to food and water has
been cut off for thousands. "The fact that he accepted the call and spoke
with the Pope may, I hope, be a sign that the Pope's request will indeed be
carried out," said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's secretary of
state. Without mentioning a ceasefire, the Kremlin said the Vatican's intention
to help create conditions for the safety of the town's population had been
supported, adding that it had been agreed to cooperate on the matter.
The Pope's doctors said on Friday that tests had shown "a steady improvement in his general condition," with a chest X-ray indicating "good recovery of the operated lung." The whole lower lobe of the Pope's right lung was removed "to ensure the procedure was radical." The pontiff first announced he would have the operation during his weekly Sunday prayers, telling the crowd in St Peter's Square that doctors had found a "well-contained" nodule on his lung "at an early stage." The medical team confirmed it was cancerous, diagnosing him with lung adenocarcinoma. The Vatican stressed that the Pope had shown no symptoms of infection or illness prior to the procedure.
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