VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV walked out of Rome's Gemelli hospital on Saturday, just four days after surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung to treat lung cancer, in a recovery pace that even his own doctors had not originally projected.

The 71-year-old pontiff was greeted by dozens of well-wishers as he stepped into a waiting vehicle to return to the Vatican, according to an Associated Press report carried by Religion News Service. The Vatican announced that he will deliver the traditional Sunday noon blessing from a window overlooking St. Peter's Square, his first public appearance since leaving the hospital.

Leo had announced the news himself last Sunday, telling the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square that doctors had found a nodule on his lung and would remove it — a level of openness about a pope's health that the Vatican press corps noted as remarkable. The operation, performed Tuesday, confirmed that the nodule was adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer.

His personal physician and surgeon said Saturday that the pope was "deemed fit for discharge" based on morning blood test results, a chest X-ray, and an assessment of his overall clinical condition. The Vatican had originally estimated a weeklong hospital stay and canceled all his audiences through Tuesday, but medical bulletins during the week described a strong post-operative recovery, noting that Leo was carrying on "normal daily activities completely on his own."

That recovery included real work from his hospital bed. Since Tuesday's operation, Leo held a telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, met with top aides, and celebrated Mass in a makeshift hospital chapel. On Friday the Vatican released the first photographs of him since the surgery, showing the pontiff standing at an altar in green vestments. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Leo presided alone over the liturgy, distributing Communion to medical personnel and Vatican gendarmes, and used the homily to thank the hospital staff "for the work they do every day taking care of the sick in their fragility."

Attention now turns to the pope's ambitious Latin America trip scheduled for November 6–17, which the Vatican has given every sign of keeping on the calendar. The journey — a dozen flights and two helicopter trips across the continent — would begin three weeks after his surgery. On Friday the Vatican published the names of journalists accredited to fly on the papal plane, and oncology surgeons have said recovery protocols generally clear patients to fly after three weeks, provided their recovery continues to go well.

Doctors are still awaiting detailed molecular and genetic test results to determine whether the cancer has spread beyond the removed lobe and whether any further treatment will be necessary. For now, the world's 1.4 billion Catholics are watching a pope who has chosen unusual transparency about his illness — and who is, by his doctors' account, recovering ahead of schedule.

Source: Associated Press reporting via Religion News Service.