On the advice of his doctors, Pope Leo XIV will not travel by helicopter to Assisi on Oct. 27 to participate in the international meeting on “Unarmed and Disarming Peace,” organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio. They advised this as “a precautionary measure” to facilitate his full recovery after the removal of the lower lobe of his right lung 10 days ago.

In a medical update issued by the Vatican press office on Oct. 23, Dr. Stefano Margaritora, who operated on the pope, and Dr. Luigi Carbone, Leo’s personal physician, stated that “as scheduled, the Holy Father underwent a follow-up chest X-ray. The examination confirmed that his postoperative recovery is proceeding very well.”

They emphasized, however, that “given the short time that has elapsed since the surgery,” they “deemed it appropriate, as a precautionary measure, to advise against the planned helicopter trip on October 27.” 

In a subsequent communique, the Vatican press office said Pope Leo would not attend the Assisi meeting on Oct. 27, as originally planned, for the gathering marking the 40th anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Peace, first convened by St. John Paul II. 

It said he would not attend the Assisi meeting in order “to facilitate his recovery following the thoracic surgery he underwent last Tuesday, and in accordance with his doctors’ advice.”

Instead, the Vatican said, “Pope Leo will send a message of solidarity to the organizers, the leaders and representatives of Christian denominations and other religions, as well as to the guests who will be in attendance, in the belief that the ‘spirit of Assisi’, dialogue, and the search for words and gestures of peace are precious resources in an era of conflict.”

Asked to comment on the decision not to go to Assisi, Dr. Anna Lisa Bilotta told America: “That sounds right to me. In my opinion, the reason he’s not participating in the meeting in Assisi on the 27th is so he’ll be in top form for the big trip! So yes, it’s right for him to continue his quiet recovery now. That way, he’ll be ready for the trip to Latin America.”

Pope Leo is scheduled to depart from Rome for a 12-day journey to three countries—Uruguay, Argentina and Peru—on Nov. 6. The trip involves 14 flights (including two by helicopter), visiting 10 cities, and going to the city of Cusco in the Peruvian Andes at an altitude of over 11,000 feet, as well as to Pucallpa, a city in the Amazonian rainforest of eastern Peru on that same day. Some Vatican sources think there could be changes to that program, especially in relation to Cusco. 

The Vatican first announced the trip on Aug. 5 and published the full program for the itinerary on Sept. 21. It has published no other news on the trip since then, though many here expect an announcement about the trip in the coming days.

There is heightened expectation in Argentina that he will come in November, especially after Leo appeared to confirm the trip when asked by a young married couple from Argentina at the public audience last Wednesday, Oct. 21, if he will come to their homeland. He responded with “Argentina, ya vamos!” (“Argentina, we’re coming!”).

At the Angelus last Sunday, Oct. 18, Pope Leo said he would resume his work “gradually.” He seems to have actually sped up judging by the number of audiences he is giving. He held a public audience attended by 30,000 Romans and pilgrims on Wednesday that lasted more than 90 minutes, and since then has given several other audiences. Yesterday, on the liturgical feast of St. John Paul II, he recorded a video message inviting young people to attend the World Youth Day in South Korea next August. Today, he spoke at an international conference on canon law organized by the Pontifical Gregorian University to mark the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the canon law faculty in that Jesuit-run university. He also received the bishops of Panama on their ad limina visit to the Holy See, and he received in private audience His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the major archbishop of Kyiv-Halyč in war-torn Ukraine; he has said that he was on Russia’s “assassination list” when the invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022.

Pope Leo continues to make a good recovery as his doctors expected, and there is a growing feeling in the Vatican that he will have fully recovered by Nov. 6 and will be able to travel to Latin America.

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.