Pope Leo XIV has undergone surgery at a hospital in Rome to remove a nodule from his lung, with the Vatican confirming that the procedure was successfully completed on Tuesday.
“The procedure was successfully completed, within the expected time and in the planned manner,” the Vatican said in a brief statement.
“The Holy Father has returned to his room,” it added, noting that further details would be provided later.
The 71-year-old pontiff was seen smiling and waving as he arrived at the hospital on Tuesday morning, hours before the operation to remove the growth, described as a coin-shaped lesion on his lung.
The surgery marks Leo’s first hospitalisation since he became head of the Catholic Church on May 8, 2025. Vatican officials who saw him on Monday said he appeared relaxed about his hospital stay.
In a surprise announcement after the Angelus prayer on Sunday, Leo told crowds in St Peter’s Square that doctors had discovered the nodule at a very early stage during medical checks.
“The doctors believe it would be right to intervene,” he said.
The Vatican had said before the procedure that the pope was expected to require about a week to recover. His scheduled audiences have been cancelled until October 20.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin told the ANSA news agency that Leo had been “very calm” about his condition when they met on Monday.
Public expresses concern
News of the pope’s hospitalisation prompted concern among people gathered outside the hospital.
Giorgia Fei, a 57-year-old Italian, said she had been worried by the announcement but was confident in the medical team treating him.
“However, the Holy Father is in very good hands here at the hospital because we have some outstanding doctors,” she said.
“I will pray a lot for him.”
Giuseppe Purpura, 72, also expressed concern, saying he had not expected the pope to require surgery.
“He’s still quite young and I really wasn’t expecting this. I thought he was in better health,” he said, adding that “thankfully it was caught in time.”
The Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome, Cardinal Baldassare Reina, led a rosary prayer for the pope in the hospital chapel. The Vatican broadcast the prayer, which was attended by dozens of people.
Reina also called on parishes across Rome to join in praying for the pontiff’s recovery.
Health and recovery
Born in Chicago, Leo is the first American pope and is generally believed to be in good health. He is known to maintain an active lifestyle.
The Vatican told AFP that the lung nodule was discovered during routine health checks, with no symptoms prompting doctors to examine his lungs.
Marco Scarci, a thoracic surgery expert in the United Kingdom, told AFP that the procedure was not “a particularly risky operation” and expressed confidence that the pope would recover quickly.
Most pulmonary nodules are benign, meaning they are not cancerous, although a small proportion can indicate early-stage lung cancer.
Professor Federico Venuta, head of thoracic surgery at Policlinico Umberto I hospital in Rome, explained that the term “coin lesion” refers to a small, rounded nodule that appears coin-shaped on an X-ray.
Such nodules often cause no symptoms, although larger ones can lead to shortness of breath, chest pain and persistent coughing, sometimes accompanied by blood.
Venuta said pulmonary nodules could result from various benign conditions, including inflammation, infections, autoimmune disorders and congenital abnormalities, but could also be malignant.
He added that even if the nodule proved cancerous, the pope’s prognosis could still be favourable if the condition had been detected at an early stage and had not spread.
“For a generally healthy person, the prognosis for lung cancer caught at such an early stage — specifically a pulmonary nodule with no distant spread — is absolutely favourable,” he said.
Upcoming engagements
Leo is scheduled to travel to South America from November 6 to 17, with planned visits to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru.
It remains unclear whether the trip would be affected if his recovery takes longer than expected.
Under Church law, the cardinal camerlengo assumes certain administrative responsibilities when a pope dies. However, the Catholic Church has no formal deputy who automatically replaces a pope if he becomes incapacitated.
The Vatican has traditionally maintained considerable secrecy surrounding the health of pontiffs. However, it adopted a more transparent approach during the illness of Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, who openly discussed his medical conditions.
AFP
