Pope Leo XIV has urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a truce in the occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky, during a phone call in which he expressed “deep concern” about the humanitarian situation there.
The Vatican said the Pope asked for the pause to allow first aid and food supplies into the town, as well as the voluntary evacuation of civilians.
The call came as Leo, 71, was seen for the first time since undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous mass from his right lung.
Images released by the Vatican showed the Chicago-born pontiff celebrating Mass in a room on the 10th floor of Rome’s Gemelli hospital. He was wearing green vestments and stood beside his private secretary, the Peruvian priest Edgard Rimaycuna.
Medical and nursing staff, along with members of the police, joined the service, the Vatican press office said. Leo also thanked doctors, nurses and other hospital workers for their care and for their attention to people in a vulnerable condition.
“He thanked all the staff, doctors, nurses, orderlies, for their service and their closeness to people, for their care of people’s fragility, and in particular, evidently, for the care, attention, and treatment given to him in these days,” the press office said.
Leo was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday after a lesion was found on his chest. He underwent a 90-minute operation, during which part of his lung was removed, and the lesion was later diagnosed as cancer.
Doctors said on Thursday that a chest X-ray showed a “good recovery of the operated lung”. On Friday, they reported “a steady improvement in his general condition” and said he was carrying out “his normal daily activities completely independently”.
Tests to establish whether the cancer has spread are still pending. The Vatican has not provided an update on when Leo might leave hospital, repeating an earlier estimate that his recovery would take about a week.
The Pope is expected to lead the traditional Angelus prayer on Sunday, although a Vatican source did not say whether it would take place at the hospital or the Vatican.
The prayer is usually recited from the window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking St Peter’s Square. Popes John Paul II and Francis both led the Angelus from hospital windows while recovering from health problems.
The Vatican also released letters and drawings sent by children at Gemelli. One seven-year-old boy, Angelo, said he had been on the hospital’s 10th floor for 36 days while recovering from a head operation and wrote: “My mother and I pray for you every night. I hope you get well soon.”
