Pope Leo heads back to the Vatican as well-wishers cheer, in photos

The surgeon who removed Pope Leo XIV's cancerous tumor says there are “no clinical reasons” to prevent the pontiff from traveling to Latin America next month. Vatican media reported this after the pope returned to the Vatican from the hospital. Dr. Stefano Margaritora told Vatican News that the pope is expected to recover fully from surgery in about 10 days. Leo had the lower lobe of his right lung removed on Tuesday. The surgery confirmed he had adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer. He left the hospital on Saturday, well ahead of the week-long hospital stay the Vatican had initially anticipated.