Photo: Sergio López Prieto / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Pope Leo XIV will have surgery in the first days of this week to remove a small nodule that doctors found on his lung, the Vatican said on Sunday, October 11, after the pontiff himself broke the news to pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square for his weekly noon blessing.
Speaking in Italian from the window of the Apostolic Palace, the 71-year-old said the growth had been picked up during recent medical tests, was found at a very early stage and was well localised. He said doctors felt it was best to act, and that he had decided to follow their advice and have it removed.
The surgery is already scheduled for the coming days. Thank you for your spiritual support, and I entrust myself to your prayers.
Pope Leo XIV, at the Angelus
What the Vatican has said
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni later said the operation was planned for the first days of the week and that the expected recovery time after surgery was about one week. The procedure will take place at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, where popes have long been treated and where a special apartment is kept for them. No further medical details were released.
According to the American Cancer Society, a lung nodule is a small abnormal area, no more than about 3 cm across, that often shows up on chest or abdominal CT scans carried out for other reasons, such as an injury or an infection.
First major health concern of his papacy
Leo, the first American pope, had no previously known health problems and is known for keeping active, with weekly tennis games and swimming at the papal summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo. This is the first major surgery he has publicly disclosed since becoming pope.
The announcement carries extra weight in Rome because of how his predecessor’s papacy ended. Pope Francis died on April 21, 2025, of a stroke, following a long hospital stay that began with a respiratory crisis and developed into double pneumonia. Francis had chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, and he also underwent colon surgery in 2021 and abdominal surgery in 2023 at the same hospital.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offered the support of her government and said the serenity and calm with which the pope spoke about his condition were reassuring.
What happens next
Leo is due to make an extensive trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from November 6 to 17. It is not yet clear whether the surgery and recovery will affect the itinerary, though he indicated during his Sunday remarks that he still planned to travel.
