First images released of Pope Leo celebrating Mass at hospital after cancer surgery

ROME (AP) — The Vatican on Friday released the first images of Pope Leo XIV since his lung cancer surgery, showing him celebrating Mass, as doctors said that tests confirmed the “continued improvement” in his recovery.

The photos show Leo standing up at the altar in green vestments celebrating Mass in a makeshift chapel that has been set up for him in Gemelli hospital. Spokesman Matteo Bruni said he presided alone over the liturgy, distributed Communion to medical personnel and Vatican gendarmes present and delivered a homily.

In his homily, Leo thanked the hospital staff “for the work they do every day taking care of the sick in their fragility, and in a particular way what they had done for him,” Bruni said.

Bruni also confirmed Leo would make his first public appearance on Sunday to deliver the traditional noontime prayer.

“His post-operative recovery allows him to carry out his normal daily activities completely on his own,” said a medical update signed by Leo’s personal physician Dr. Luigi Carbone and the head of thoracic surgery at the Gemelli hospital, Dr. Stefano Margaritora.

The 71-year-old Leo had the lower lobe of his right lung removed Oct. 13 after doctors identified a suspected cancerous nodule. The surgery confirmed he had adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer.

A signal of all systems go for trip

Even as questions swirled about what his cancer means for the future of his young pontificate, there were signs Friday that it was all systems go. The Vatican on Friday published the names of journalists accredited to fly on Leo’s plane with him during his Nov. 6-17 trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru.

Leo’s ability to make the trip has been in question since his diagnosis, and the Vatican can change plans at any time. But the posting of the media list signaled that at least on an organizational level, the trip was going ahead.

In the nearer term, Vatican officials were gaming out possible scenarios for Leo to recite the traditional Sunday noontime Angelus prayer. Vatican media personnel were seen at the Gemelli hospital laying cables for a possible live broadcast, as past popes have done when hospitalized. Spokesman Bruni said he would deliver the prayer, but it wasn’t clear where.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said a recitation of the noontime prayer on Sunday from the hospital was a possibility, but would depend on Leo’s recovery. Such appearances have often served as a welcome confirmation of a hospitalized pope’s well-being for the 1.4 billion-strong Catholic faithful and others.

Secretary of state suggests ‘adjustments’

Parolin said he remained concerned about the pope, but indicated that was also a function of his surprise at learning that Leo needed surgery. Parolin, who was considered a leading contender in the conclave that elected Leo and was recently passed over as dean of the College of Cardinals, surprised some by suggesting that the pontificate itself might need to be adjusted.

“We can’t make any type of predictions,” Parolin said Thursday, according to the LaPresse and ANSA news agencies. “The question now is when he will return, under what circumstances he will return, and what the doctors say. And based on all these factors, the pope will then adjust his pontificate, if it needs to be adjusted,” he was quoted as saying.

Doctors are still awaiting the results of tests to understand the precise molecular and genetic makeup of the cancer, whether it has spread beyond the lobe and whether any further treatment is necessary.

Cancer patients send well-wishing notes to Leo

Meanwhile, the Vatican on Friday released photos of some get-well notes that had been sent to Leo from patients at Gemelli’s pediatric oncology ward, located on the 10th floor, where popes past have often visited during their own hospitalizations.

One, from 7-year-old Angelo, told Leo that he had been on the 10th floor for 36 days. “My mother and I pray for you every night. Get well soon,” he wrote, with little hearts at the bottom.

Giorgia, a university-aged student, wrote to Leo in his native English, saying she had long loved learning and practicing the language.

“When I heard on the news about you and your situation, I felt it a thousand times harder, because in some ways we’re going through the same thing, and it made me feel closer to you,” she wrote. “I pray to God that we both heal and I ask you to pray for me, too.”

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Associated Press visual journalist Trisha Thomas contributed to this report.

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Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press