Pope Leo Cancels Peace Meeting Visit Days After Doctors Rule Out Further Cancer Treatment
Pope Leo Cancels Peace Meeting Visit Days After Doctors Rule Out Further Cancer Treatment
The Pope was scheduled to attend the gathering, which marks the 40th anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Peace convened in the Italian city by Pope St. John Paul II.
Pope Leo XIV has cancelled his travel to Assisi in Central Italy, earlier scheduled for October 27, to attend the “Unarmed and Disarming Peace” meeting as he continues to recover from the recent thoracic surgery.
The Pope was scheduled to attend the gathering, which marks the 40th anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Peace convened in the Italian city by Pope St. John Paul II.
However, the Holy See Press Office announced that he will instead send a message expressing his closeness to the organizers and participants.
“To aid his recovery following the thoracic surgery he underwent on Tuesday of last week, Pope Leo XIV will be unable to attend the ‘Unarmed and Disarming Peace’ meeting in Assisi on October 27, as planned,” the Holy See Press Office said.
The Vatican said Pope Leo remains convinced “that the ‘Spirit of Assisi’ dialogue and the search for words and gestures of peace are valuable resources in an age of conflict.”
The announcement came on Friday alongside a fresh update on the 71-year-old pontiff’s health.
According to his personal physician, Dr. Luigi Carbone, and surgeon, Professor Stefano Margaritora, the Pope underwent a scheduled follow-up chest X-ray which showed that his postoperative recovery was progressing very well.
“The Holy Father underwent a follow-up chest X-ray as scheduled. The examination confirmed that his postoperative recovery is progressing very well,” the doctors said.
“However, given the short time that has elapsed since the surgery, his doctors advised against the planned helicopter journey on October 27 as a precaution.”
The latest development comes two days after the Vatican announced that Pope Leo’s doctors had determined that he would not require further treatment for lung cancer following surgery.
Final histopathology and molecular testing on tissue removed during the Pope’s October 13 surgery confirmed that the tumour was a lung adenocarcinoma but that the disease was localized.
“A subsequent oncological assessment has confirmed that no further treatment is necessary,” Dr. Carbone and Professor Margaritora said in the October 21 statement.
Pope Leo underwent surgery at Rome’s Agostino Gemelli Hospital after doctors discovered what had initially been described as a small, localized nodule in his lung during routine medical examinations.
Surgeons led by Professor Margaritora removed the entire lower lobe of the Pope’s right lung during the October 13 procedure.
The operation, performed using a video-assisted technique, was described by the Vatican as successful and without complications.
Doctors said the entire lobe was removed to ensure complete removal of the tumour and surrounding tissue.
The tumour was reportedly discovered accidentally during examinations conducted for another medical reason, with the Pope having experienced no respiratory symptoms before the discovery.
Following the surgery, Leo remained at Gemelli Hospital for several days while doctors monitored his recovery and administered physiotherapy.
He was discharged on October 17, four days after the operation, after blood tests and a chest X-ray confirmed that his clinical condition allowed him to leave the hospital.
Before returning to the Vatican, the Pope celebrated Mass in a chapel at the hospital and subsequently resumed some of his public activities.
Professor Margaritora had previously said the Pope was in satisfactory clinical condition when he left the hospital, with normal blood tests and good heart function.
The surgeon also said the re-expansion of the Pope’s lung was progressing according to the expected timetable and estimated that he would need roughly another 10 days to achieve complete physical recovery.
The October 27 gathering in Assisi is particularly significant because of the legacy of Pope John Paul II’s 1986 World Day of Prayer for Peace, which brought representatives of different religious traditions together in the Italian city.
The initiative became associated with the “Spirit of Assisi,” referring to dialogue, interfaith cooperation and the search for peaceful solutions to conflicts.
The Holy See said Leo XIV will remain spiritually close to the organizers and attendees despite his inability to travel.
