From hospital, Pope Leo pushes Putin for ceasefire in contested Ukraine city

Pope Leo spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on Friday, calling for a ceasefire in a Russian-occupied city in southern Ukraine, as he recovers in hospital from a lung cancer operation.

The Vatican said that Pope Leo “expressed his deep concern about the grave humanitarian situation in the city of Oleshky, in the Kherson region, and called for a ceasefire to allow the delivery of food and medical assistance, and the voluntary and safe evacuation of the civilian population”.

The surprise notice from the Vatican on Friday evening suggested that the recovering pope is still hard at work, despite Tuesday’s operation to remove a cancerous tumour from his right lung.

Residents of Oleshky in southern Ukraine are facing a worsening humanitarian crisis with shortages of food and medication as they are caught in the crossfire between Russian and Ukrainian troops.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk denounced on Friday a “desperate” situation in the city, calling on Russia to enable civilians to evacuate.

In a note, the Kremlin said the two had talked and “a detailed explanation was provided regarding the Kyiv regime’s responsibility for the difficult humanitarian situation” in Oleshky.

The Kremlin said Putin also wished the pope a speedy recovery and stressed the “importance of Russian-Vatican cooperation in promoting unifying spiritual and moral values”.

Earlier on Friday, Leo celebrated mass on the top floor of Rome’s Gemelli hospital, as seen in the first images of him released by the Vatican since the procedure.

The images showed the 71-year-old Chicago-born pope in front of a makeshift altar in a room on the 10th floor, dressed in a green vestment.

He appeared relaxed and in good form in the two photos released, standing with his private secretary, Peruvian priest Edgard Rimaycuna, at his side.

“He celebrated with the medical and nursing staff of Gemelli, some people who were present there, who were clearly off duty at that moment,” the Vatican press office said, adding that members of the police also joined in.

“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.

The pope is expected to lead the traditional Angelus prayer on Sunday, but a Vatican source would not say whether it would be from the hospital or from the Vatican.

The Angelus prayer is traditionally recited by the pope every Sunday from the window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking St Peter’s Square, to crowds of faithful gathered below.

Doctors have said that the pope’s recovery after surgery is progressing normally, but ongoing tests will determine the future course of his treatment.

His doctors said on Thursday that a chest X-ray indicated “good recovery of the operated lung”.

On Friday, they said tests had shown “a steady improvement in his general condition”.

The pope was now carrying out “his normal daily activities completely independently”, they said.

Test results to determine whether the cancer has spread are still pending.

The press office has not given an update on the possible timing of the pope’s discharge from hospital, repeating a doctor’s original statement that his recovery would take about a week.

Were Leo to recite the Angelus from the window of the Gemelli hospital, it would not be a first for a pope.

On February 6, 2005, 84-year-old John Paul II appeared at the hospital window while recovering from flu-related respiratory issues, as an aide beside him read out the Angelus prayer.

Pope Francis on July 11, 2021, then 84, also gave the prayer from the hospital window after surgery on his colon, telling the assembled crowd: “I am glad to be able to keep the Sunday Angelus appointment, even here.”

Also on Friday, the Vatican released a selection of letters and drawings sent by children at the hospital, including a picture of a tree “For Pope Leo”, complete with grass, sun and clouds, and a letter from an 18-year-old girl who wrote to Leo: “Better days will come for the both of us.”

A seven-year-old boy named Angelo wrote that he, too, had been on the 10th floor of the Gemelli hospital for the past 36 days for a head operation.

“My mother and I pray for you every night,” he wrote. “I hope you get well soon.”