Pope Leo XIV blesses the crowd from the window of the apostolic palace overlooking St. Peter's square during the Angelus prayer a day after his return to The Vatican following a surgery to remove a cancerous tumour in his right lung, on October 18, 2026. (Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP)
Vatican City: Pope Leo XIV addressed thousands of people in St Peter's Square on Sunday in his first weekly Angelus prayer since leaving hospital after lung cancer surgery.
A chorus of "Viva il papa!" (Hooray for the pope!) reverberated across the square as the 71-year-old leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics appeared at the window of his Apostolic Palace to address the crowd.
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday thanked well-wishers for praying for him after his cancer surgery and said he would resume work "gradually".
"I would like to thank all the people who have been praying for me in these days," the 71-year-old told a crowd in St Peter's Square, adding: "I will now gradually resume my activities".
