Pope slowly returns to regular duties after lung surgery

VATICAN CITY- Pope Leo will hold a general audience with pilgrims at the Vatican on Wednesday for the first time since undergoing surgery for lung cancer, the Vatican said.

The 71-year-old pontiff had an operation on October 13 to remove the lower lobe of his right lung, fuelling speculation about how his illness might change his 17-month papacy.

Leo pledged on Sunday, in his first public event since the surgery, that he would slowly resume his usual activities as the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics.

The pope hosts a general audience with pilgrims on most Wednesdays of the year. It is held in St. Peter's Square when there is good weather and the pope often tours the crowds, usually in the tens of thousands, in an open-top popemobile.

Leo has been diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer. The diagnosis, for the youngest pope in decades, who was elected only in May 2025, caused shock.

The pope's doctors have said his surgery was completed successfully, without complications. They have not yet disclosed the size of the tumour or whether the disease had spread to nearby lymph nodes, key factors in determining prognosis.

The Vatican has provided no indication of Leo's schedule beyond Wednesday.

The pope is due to visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from November 6 to17, in one of the most intense trips arranged for a Catholic leader in decades, but it remains unclear if that trip will go forward.

Leo's lead surgeon has said the pope could be fully recovered in time for the trip, but the Vatican's secretary of state has indicated the pope may need to adjust the pace of his schedule to aid in recovery.

-Joshua McElwee, editing by Giulia Segreti and Xevi Fontdegloria/Reuters