The Vatican says the operation went as planned, but has not said whether the growth was cancerous, and the 71-year-old’s diary has already been cleared until 20 October.
Pope Leo XIV has undergone surgery to remove a lung nodule at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, with the Vatican saying it was completed “successfully, on schedule and as planned”. A statement from the Vatican spokesman said the 71-year-old had returned to his room afterwards. The operation was led by Gemelli’s chief thoracic surgeon, Dr Stefano Margaritora. It is the first major health problem publicly disclosed in the American pontiff’s 17-month papacy.
The operation
Pope Leo walked into the hospital through the main entrance on Tuesday, waving to dozens of well-wishers who had gathered to greet him. Reports say the procedure lasted around two hours, and the Vatican’s first postoperative announcement came at about 7.50pm Rome time. No complications were disclosed. This type of surgery is usually carried out under general anaesthesia and requires a week-long hospital stay. The Vatican cancelled all his audiences through 20 October on Monday.
The Pope told the faithful during his Sunday noon prayer that a small, localised nodule had been found, and that he would have it removed. The Vatican has offered an unusual level of openness about his condition. Dr Lorenzo Spaggiari, director of thoracic surgery at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, is not involved in his care but knows the Gemelli team. He said: “These are things that can be treated very well, if the words he used reflect the clinical situation.”
The Vatican has not said whether the nodule is benign or malignant. The operation was meant both to remove it and to allow doctors to examine it. Leo has described it as small, localised and found early, and there has been no announcement that he has lung cancer. The Vatican has promised more information but has not said when test results will be available. A successful operation does not in itself establish a diagnosis or whether more treatment is needed.
Gemelli has a papal apartment with a private chapel on the 10th floor, which past popes have used. Because it is being renovated, Leo will stay in a nearby room, according to the Vatican press office.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said he met the Pope on Monday evening and found him calm about the operation. He said the announcement had come unexpectedly, even to those close to the Pope, and that he was optimistic because the nodule had been found early enough to recommend prompt treatment.
Changes to the Vatican’s programme
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle will preside over a Mass in St Peter’s Square on Wednesday 14 October, in place of the Pope. It forms part of a gathering marking the tenth anniversary of Amoris laetitia, Pope Francis’s document on marriage and family life. Prayers will be offered for Leo’s health during the celebration.
The gathering was expected to produce a synthesis report. Leo had planned to hear the participants’ conclusions and give his own reflections. Because of his hospitalisation, he asked that the report not be published on its original schedule, as he wants to review it after leaving hospital.
Who is in charge
There is no automatic transfer of papal authority when a pope is hospitalised or temporarily incapacitated, the Associated Press reported. Cardinal Parolin and other officials can carry on ordinary administration, but decisions needing the Pope’s personal authority may have to wait. Under canon law, a papal vacancy arises through death or a valid voluntary resignation, not through illness. There is no sign that Leo’s condition requires any succession arrangements.
The November tour
Leo is due to make a 12-day visit to three South American countries from 6 to 17 November. It would take in Uruguay (6-8 November), Argentina (8-11 November) and Peru (11-17 November), with ten cities in total. It would be the first papal visit to Uruguay since 1988 and to Argentina since 1987, and a return to Peru, where Leo worked as a missionary and bishop. The itinerary has not been cancelled, although his fitness to travel will depend on his recovery and medical advice.
The Associated Press reported that recovery from this kind of lung surgery can include a period, potentially around three weeks, during which air travel is discouraged. The Vatican has not confirmed any such restriction for Leo, or the surgical technique used.
An earlier illness
This is believed to be Leo’s second hospitalisation. He is known to be sporty and in good shape. As a young missionary priest in 1985, he contracted typhoid fever soon after arriving in Chulucanas, Peru. In an interview for the 2025 biography Pope Leo XIV, with Elise Ann Allen, he said he prayed to be allowed to die rather than endure the “horrible” pain. “I was hooked up to an IV, and I said, ‘If this is your sense of humour, Lord, I think you could do a little better,’” he said.
He recalled: “Obviously, I survived; I recovered, but it turned out to be a very significant moment for me.” He said he had already dealt with the illness and seen what was needed there, and that his order, the Augustinians, and the Church had told him they needed him in Peru. “I never looked back,” he said. It was a decision that ultimately paved the way to his papacy.
