VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo’s surgeon told Vatican media on Saturday that there were “no clinical reasons” to prevent him from traveling to Latin America as scheduled Nov. 6-17.
Stefano Margaritora said, “The Holy Father has put his heart and soul into his recovery” and said he expected the pope to recover fully from surgery “in another 10 days or so.”
“As for a long trip involving air travel in about three weeks, I would say there are no clinical reasons why it should not take place,” he told Vatican News.
The interview was published shortly after the pope returned to the Vatican on Saturday, four days after Margaritora removed the lower lobe of his right lung, where a cancerous nodule had been located.
Leo returned home after undergoing the surgery at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, where dozens of well-wishers saw him off with cries of “Holiness.”
“I am much better, thank you,” the pope said when asked how he was as he was driven away in a black SUV.
Leo, 71, greeted patients inside the hospital alongside Margaritora, before waving to well-wishers outside as he walked to a waiting vehicle.
He paused when a 13-year-old Ukrainian girl presented him with a homemade papal doll that she said had helped her through successful cancer treatment. She had briefly met Leo at an audience in St. Peter’s Square last December — an encounter she told reporters “gave her the strength to overcome the illness.”
Ten minutes after driving away from the hospital, the pope entered the gates of the Vatican. He is set to resume some duties on Sunday, when he greets the faithful with the traditional Angelus blessing, exactly one week after he announced to throngs in St. Peter’s Square that doctors had found a nodule on his lung — an unusually candid disclosure for a pontiff.
Since the surgery, Leo has shown signs of recovering well. He had a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, held meetings with senior aides, and celebrated Mass in a makeshift hospital chapel.
Medical bulletins from his personal physician and surgeon also described a good postoperative recovery, saying he had been able to carry on “normal daily activities completely on his own.”
On Friday, the Vatican released the first images of Leo since his surgery, showing him in green vestments standing at an altar in the hospital chapel. Doctors said tests confirmed his “continued improvement.”
The Vatican had initially estimated a weeklong hospital stay and canceled his audiences through Tuesday. Experts said patients could be discharged earlier depending on their recovery, while Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said the decision rested with the pope’s doctors.
Leo’s next major engagement is the trip to Latin America, giving him about three weeks to recover before an ambitious journey that includes a dozen flights and two helicopter trips.
The Vatican signaled that preparations were proceeding by publishing on Friday the names of journalists accredited to travel on Leo’s plane.