Pope Leo XIV is making “a normal postoperative recovery” following an operation to remove the lower lobe of his right lung, where doctors had found a malignant tumor. On his second day in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, the pope is walking and eating normally, his doctors said in a statement issued by the Vatican press office around 3 p.m. (local time) on Oct. 14.

The statement was signed by Professor Stefano Margaritora, the lead doctor in the operation, and Dr. Luigi Carbone, the pope’s personal physician.

According to this report, this morning Leo “underwent the blood tests and chest X-ray scheduled following the surgery. The results confirm a normal postoperative recovery: The values are within the normal range for the type of surgery performed.”

“The Holy Father has undergone respiratory physical therapy and has begun walking around his room,” the doctors said. His room is on the 10th floor of the hospital, next to the papal suite that is being refurbished.

Furthermore, their report said that Pope Leo “has resumed a regular diet, eating breakfast and lunch.” Last evening, Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See press office, said that Pope Leo asked for dinner when he returned to his room, having fasted from the previous evening ahead of the operation.

The medical statement concluded, “His recovery is proceeding as expected.”

Early this morning, Oct. 14, the Vatican issued a statement saying Pope Leo spent his first night “tranquilly” in the hospital.

Asked to comment on today’s medical report, Dr. Anna Lisa Bilotta, who works at Rome’s Salvator Mundi Hospital, told America that “everything is going well; we can be tranquil. The X-ray and blood tests are within the norm.” Moreover, she said that because the doctors used video-assisted procedures, “the surgery was less invasive and so the post-operative recovery is easier.” She added that “this is as much as we can expect up to now,” but “we have to wait for the full histological report and that will take some more days.”

Speaking after the report was issued today, Mr. Bruni said, “The pope is in good humor.” 

He confirmed, however, that the doctors have to wait for the test results to decide what treatment or therapy he will have to follow.

Since many doctors in Italy have said it is not advisable to travel on a plane so soon after the operation, journalists asked Mr. Bruni whether Leo would still visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from Nov. 6-17. It is a demanding trip that involves a 14-hour flight to Montevideo, travel on 11 other planes and two helicopters, and a visit to Cusco, the former seat of the Inca Empire that sits at an altitude of 3,400 meters (11,000 feet). Mr. Bruni said that “at the moment the trip is still on.”

The news that Leo XIV was diagnosed with lung cancer hit the Vatican like an earthquake last evening. No one had expected that the athletic pope would end up in the hospital for cancer just 17 months after his election, though some pointed out that Leo had hinted at the possibility on Sunday, when he announced that, on his doctor’s advice, he would undergo surgery to remove a nodule in his lung.

As he recovers in hospital today, Catholics as well as people of other faiths and beliefs around the world, are praying for Leo’s restoration to the fullness of health, while United Nations Secretary General António Guterres and many heads of state and government have sent good wishes for a speedy recovery.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is Catholic, posted on X that he and his wife were praying for the pope, writing, “May the Lord give him strength and the Holy Spirit guide the medical professionals taking care of the Holy Father.” 

Vatican Media reported that Father Gabriel Romanelli, who leads the Holy Family Parish in Gaza, said that on hearing the news of the pope’s hospitalization, “we immediately gathered in prayer for his health…. We are praying with the entire community and with all the children of Gaza. We are truly moved.”

Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of war-torn Myanmar told America that the bishops, clergy, religious and faithful of that country have sent a letter to the pope assuring him of “our unceasing spiritual closeness, prayers, and profound solidarity. We pray that the Holy Spirit guide the hands of the surgeons, that the operation be completely successful, and that you experience a swift, smooth, and full recovery to resume your apostolic ministry.”

The Canadian-Maltese archbishop Charles Scicluna told America that “the strong instinct of faith leads us in Malta to remember the Holy Father and to support him with our prayers as the church in Jerusalem did for Peter [when he was in prison].”

The pope’s elder brother Louis Prevost, who lives in Florida and is also battling cancer, told the U.S. news outlet Newsmax, “I received a message from his right aide: He had just left the operating room, was awake, feeling well and was in no pain.”

Gerard O’Connell is America’s senior Vatican correspondent and author of The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Story of the Conclave That Changed History. He has been covering the Vatican since 1985.