Exclusive | Pope Leo released from hospital 4 days after lung cancer surgery, telling supporters hes feeling much better

Pope Leo XIV was released from the hospital on Saturday after undergoing surgery for lung cancer, telling supporters outside he was feeling “much better” as he was driven away in a black SUV.The 71-year-old pontiff left Rome’s Agostino Gemelli University Hospital four days after surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung following his diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, a common form of lung cancer.Leo was discharged three days before originally planned and the Vatican said he would still conduct noonday prayer from the window of the Apostolic Palace on Sunday. However, all his audiences have been canceled until Oct.

20.Although the surgery was successful, it hasn’t yet been announced whether he will need further treatment, such as chemotherapy — raising a question few Catholics have had reason to consider: Who runs the Roman Catholic Church when the pope is sidelined by illness?  Church law has no clear mechanism for temporarily transferring a pope’s authority if he becomes unable to perform his duties due to a medical issue, Rev.Patrick Flanagan, chair of St.

John’s University’s theology department, told The Post.“Church law does not provide for any emergency situations.If a pope were to be incapacitated, get sick, get dementia or be in the hospital for a period of time, there’s no real indication of who would be in charge,” Flanagan explained.“One of the beautiful things about the Catholic Church is that it’s a well-run organization.

Everyone has a place and everyone knows the responsibility.So the church continues.”Thousands were gathered in St.

Peter’s Square for Sunday noon prayer on Oct.11 when the American-born pope announced from the Apostolic Palace window that he would be having an operation to remove a “localized nodule.”That public announcement is unprecedented, as the Catholic Church has a history of keeping the health issues of popes shrouded in secrecy.“I’m not convinced that there have been previous...