Pope Leo thanks well-wishers after discharge from lung cancer surgery

Pope Leo, 71, has returned to public view a day after being discharged from Rome's Gemelli Hospital, where he had surgery to remove a cancerous growth from his lung. Speaking to a packed St Peter's Square for the Angelus, the Pope thanked people for their prayers and said he would gradually continue to fulfil his commitments as he recovers.

The sequence began last Sunday, when Leo used the traditional Angelus blessing to announce that doctors had found a small, localised nodule in his lung during routine checks. He said it had been detected at a very early stage and was well contained, and that doctors had advised surgery. The Vatican later said the operation was scheduled for the first days of the week and that recovery would take about a week. He was admitted to Gemelli Hospital and waved to well-wishers from his car.

The operation took place on Tuesday afternoon. The Vatican said the lower lobe of the Pope's right lung was removed using video-assisted, minimally invasive techniques. The surgery lasted about 90 minutes, though he was in the operating theatre for about three hours. Tests confirmed pulmonary adenocarcinoma, a common form of lung cancer, which had been suspected before surgery. The Vatican said the procedure was successful and there were no complications. The Pope woke normally and returned to his room on the 10th floor.

He had no previously known health problems and had been seen as fit and active. It is about a year and a half since he was elected the first American Pope. His engagements were cancelled until at least 20 October. On Friday the Vatican released images of him saying mass in hospital. He also spoke by phone to Vladimir Putin to call for peace in Ukraine.

Doctors then said a chest X-ray and blood tests showed his recovery from the operation was going well. On Saturday he was discharged, four days after surgery, walking unaided and looking calm and well. He greeted well-wishers outside the hospital, including a teenager who is also being treated for cancer. The Italian prime minister had earlier expressed closeness and support, and King Charles, who is still receiving cancer treatment, sent private good wishes.

Questions remain about whether the cancer has spread and whether the Pope will need chemotherapy, radiotherapy or other treatment. The Vatican has said further test results could take days. Doctors have said there is no clinical reason why a planned trip to South America in November should not go ahead, though the schedule would be demanding for a 71-year-old recovering from lung surgery.

On Sunday, the Pope appeared at the window of the Apostolic Palace for the Angelus, exactly a week after he first told the world about the nodule. He said he had truly felt people's support. Catholics who had followed the week's events described relief at seeing him back so soon.