Pope Leo XIV phones Zelensky on Oleshky aid as he recovers from lung surgery

A call for aid in Oleshky

Pope Leo XIV spoke by phone with Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday, 19 October, according to a statement from the Holy See Press Office. He raised the grave situation in Oleshky and pointed to the humanitarian truce he had already requested from the Russian president. The Pope hoped that cooperation from both sides would let food and medical supplies reach the city and allow civilians to leave voluntarily and safely. The statement says he also reaffirmed the Holy See's commitment to dialogue and peace. Three days earlier, on Friday, 16 October, he had phoned Vladimir Putin from Gemelli hospital to press for the same civilian population.

Recovery at the Vatican

Leo XIV was discharged from Rome's Gemelli hospital on Saturday, 17 October, after surgery to remove a cancerous nodule from his right lung. He is convalescing in his apartment in the Apostolic Palace, and on Monday the Vatican confirmed he would not travel to Castel Gandolfo, where he usually rests on Tuesdays. At the Angelus on Sunday, 18 October, he appeared at a window of the Apostolic Palace and spoke of the closeness he now feels toward the sick.

This experience has allowed me to feel, in a particular way, a closeness to all those who are living through illness or a state of infirmity

He told the faithful that he would now gradually resume his activities. Surgeon Stefano Margaritora, who led the operating team, estimates recovery at about ten days and said the Pope will remain in the Vatican during that time. His general audience in St Peter's Square is scheduled for Wednesday, 21 October, though the Vatican has not said whether he will make his usual tour of the crowd in the popemobile.

Medical outlook and the Latin America trip

Serena Ricciardi, a pulmonologist at the San Camillo-Forlanini hospital in Rome, told Adnkronos that the histology report is still awaited and could take 10-20 days. If the nodule was small, contained and had not reached the lymph nodes, the Pope would need no treatment beyond follow-up checks, she said. If the disease had spread to the lymph nodes, doctors would run a PD-L1 test and could consider adjuvant therapy to lower the risk of relapse. Ricciardi added that a patient who has had lung surgery without complications can return to daily routine, including travel, but that the doctors treating the Pope have the final word. Margaritora told Vatican News he saw no clinical reason to cancel the 11-day visit to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru planned for November. Trouw reports the trip is scheduled for 6-17 November, with possible changes to the programme, while doctors cannot yet say whether he can cope with long flights and altitude.

Assisi and the Vatican's messaging

Whether the Pope will take part in a commemoration in Assisi on 27 October remains undecided. The event marks the 40th anniversary of the interreligious peace meeting John Paul II convened in 1986, and the Holy See is expected to announce a decision in the coming days, subject to how his recovery progresses. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, spoke of a possible "remodulation" of the pontificate after the diagnosis, a remark that drew criticism. Parolin later told a French outlet that he had meant the reorganisation of upcoming apostolic trips, such as the one to Latin America. Giovanna Chirri, a Vaticanist who first reported the resignation of Benedict XVI for ANSA, told Fanpage that a pope can keep governing while ill by adapting how he works.