Pope Leo pledges a gradual return to duties in an address to the Catholic faithful in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

Pope Leo XIV has thanked some 15,000 Catholic faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square during his Sunday address, his first major public appearance since lung cancer surgery.

“Now that this delicate phase is behind me, I will gradually resume my activities, always with God’s help and your prayers,” Leo said.

The 71-year-old pontiff addressed the crowd from a window overlooking the square at the Vatican, where a week ago on the same occasion of the traditional Angelus blessing, he revealed that a nodule had been found in his lung and would be surgically removed.

The operation confirmed he had adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer.

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

Leo said the experience of the past week “has made me feel especially close to those facing illness and infirmity”.

He told the crowd that he had “truly felt your support” and expressed “particular gratitude to the doctors, nurses and all the staff at Gemelli Hospital” in Rome, where he was treated.

The pope paused for a moment and waved before retreating into his apartment in the Apostolic Palace.

A delegation from Africa, in Rome for a Catholic meeting, danced and ululated after the pope’s blessing.

“He was always in our prayers when he was sick, and we are happy to see him today,″ Alain Kalembu of the Democratic Republic of the Congo said. “This is an expression of our joy.”

Meanwhile, Claire Holland from Jacksonville, Florida, United States, said she felt “very blessed” to be present for the pope’s return to his flock.

There had been doubts that a planned papal voyage to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru in November would go ahead.

The Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, told journalists on Friday that the pope may need to adjust the pace of his schedule “according to the condition of his health”.

But Leo’s surgeon, Stefano Margaritora, told Vatican News he believed there were “no clinical reasons why the trip should not go ahead”.

Latin Americans in the crowd in St Peter’s Square welcomed the news.

“We are all hoping for his recovery, and that he has gotten through the situation well. We know that he is OK, and we’re pleased,” Soledad Espinosa from Ecuador said.