UPDATE, OCTOBER 18 — Pope Leo XIV appeared at the window overlooking St. Peter’s Square for Sunday’s Angelus, returning to a public event after lung cancer surgery and a hospital stay.

He thanked people for their prayers and the hospital staff who cared for him, and said he would resume his responsibilities gradually, according to the Associated Press and Vatican News.

What changed

The October 18 appearance follows his discharge from Rome’s Gemelli hospital on October 17. It provides a concrete update to the recovery described in this article’s October 13 edition; it does not establish that he has returned to his full schedule.

Doctors removed the lower lobe of his right lung on October 13 after an examination during surgery confirmed adenocarcinoma. The Holy See’s bulletin described the operation as successful and without complications.

Further medical decisions remain open

The Associated Press reports that tissue and lymph-node analysis, including molecular testing, is continuing. Whether additional treatment is needed has not been determined. A public appearance does not resolve those medical questions.

The pope’s planned November 6–17 trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru remains on the schedule. His surgeon told Vatican News there was no clinical reason to rule out the journey, the AP reported; that assessment is not a guarantee that every planned engagement will proceed.

This update preserves the original article’s October 11 publication date and records the new public appearance separately from the surgery.

Sources: Associated Press via CityNews, October 18; Vatican News, October 18; Holy See medical bulletin, October 13.

Lead image: Pope Leo XIV at a media audience on May 12, 2025, by Edgar Beltrán/The Pillar, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0; existing Commons crop, reproduced unchanged. File photo, not the October 18 appearance.