Pope Leo XIV leads prayer at the Vatican the day after leaving hospital and says he will resume his activities

Pope Leo XIV prayed the Angelus this Sunday (18) from his apartment in the Vatican, overlooking St. Peter's Square. It is the pontiff's first public engagement since undergoing surgery to remove a tumor from his lung.

The 71-year-old pontiff was discharged on Saturday (17) from the Gemelli Hospital, in Rome, four days after the surgical procedure.

In a statement released on Saturday, the director of the Vatican's Directorate of Health and Hygiene, Luigi Carbone, and the head of the thoracic surgery team responsible for the operation, Stefano Margaritora, stated that the results of the tests and clinical evaluation allowed the hospital to be discharged.

The pope's doctors said the surgery was completed successfully with no complications. They have not yet disclosed the size of the tumor or whether the disease has spread to nearby lymph nodes, important factors in determining the prognosis.

The Holy See reported that preparations for the pope's trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, scheduled for November 6 to 17 and considered one of the most intense organized for a pontiff in decades, remain underway.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's secretary of state, said Friday that Leo XIV may need to adjust the pace of his schedule from now on, "according to the conditions of his health." It is unusual for a cardinal to openly declare that a pope may need to modify his routine.

On Friday, the Vatican released the first images of the pontiff since his surgery. In the photographs, he appears celebrating mass and standing without assistance.