Pope Leo XIV left the hospital to enthusiastic cheers and applause from well-wishers and returned home to the Vatican on Saturday, four days after undergoing surgery for lung cancer.

The 71-year-old pope was seen crossing the lobby of the Gemelli Hospital on foot and exiting the building, smiling as he shook hands and waved. He spoke briefly to the doctors who treated him and hospital officials before pausing to speak with a Ukrainian girl, a cancer survivor who wanted to wish him well in his recovery.

Soon after leaving the hospital, the pope’s black SUV was seen driving through a side entrance to the Vatican.

Leo’s discharge capped five days of uncertainty that rattled the Vatican and the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, less than two years into the Chicago-born pope’s papacy, which began upon his election on May 8 last year.

Earlier on Saturday, Leo’s doctors said the pope was “fit for discharge”, according to the Vatican. He had been at the Gemelli Hospital north of the Vatican since Tuesday when doctors removed part of his right lung to extract a cancerous tumour.

“Considering the blood tests, the chest X-ray done this morning, and evaluating the clinical picture, the Holy Father has been deemed fit for discharge,” doctors Luigi Carbone and Stefano Margaritora wrote in a note published by the Vatican.

The Vatican said that Leo on Sunday planned to recite the Angelus prayer from the window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking St Peter’s Square, as is customary.

Before his discharge, Leo celebrated Mass at noon, according to the Vatican, as he has in recent days, in a room on the 10th floor where he has been recovering.

The 13-year-old Ukrainian girl who spoke with the pope outside the hospital earlier on Saturday told AFP that she was rooting for him.

The cancer survivor said she had met the pope last year in Rome, “and he blessed me for a successful treatment”.

“With his support, I’ve now overcome my illness, and I want to give him my positive energy so that he, too, can overcome his illness as quickly as possible,” she said.

Up in the air

News that the otherwise active pope had a cancerous tumour removed from his lung was met with trepidation among the world’s Catholics and other supporters.

But his doctors have said Leo’s recovery has been progressing normally as they await the results of tests that will determine the course of action to take.

Leo has resumed some work, making a call on Friday to Russian President Vladimir Putin to urge a ceasefire in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky.

Up in the air, however, is a planned papal voyage to South America, scheduled for November 6-17 to visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru.

Vatican watchers say that Leo — who spent two decades as a missionary in Peru — is anxious to make the long journey, but will likely follow the recommendations of his doctors.

Leo has cancelled all his audiences until October 20.

The pope announced to the public in St Peter’s Square last Sunday, following the Angelus prayer, that a routine medical examination had revealed a nodule that doctors recommended should be removed.