FILE-Pope Leo XIV blesses faithful as he holds the Sunday Angelus prayer from his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square on Oct. 11, 2026 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Photo by Elisabetta Trevisan - Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)
Pope Leo XIV has lung cancer, the Vatican confirmed on Tuesday following a surgery to remove the lower lobe of his right lung.
The diagnosis had been suspected by preoperative tests and was confirmed during surgery, the Vatican said in a medical bulletin.
Dozens of well-wishers were on hand earlier in the day to welcome Leo to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital as he arrived for the operation. Experts told The Associated Press that his procedure will determine whether the lesion is malignant and if other treatment will be required.
Prior to the operation, the Vatican shared with the AP that the pope’s surgery would be conducted by a team led by Gemelli’s chief thoracic surgeon, Dr. Stefano Margaritora.
As the operation began, medical staff gathered in the hospital chapel to recite the Rosary, with the Vicar of Rome, Cardinal Baldassare Reina, telling those assembled, "Let us join together in prayer, asking the Lord to sustain our bishop, Pope Leo, and to comfort all those who are hospitalized here."
Pope Leo XIV reveals health issue
The backstory:
Pope Leo XIV provided a rare level of transparency about the first publicly disclosed major health problem of his 17-month papacy. The 71-year-old pontiff revealed the discovery of a small, localized nodule during his Sunday noon prayer and announced that he would have it removed.
According to The Associated Press, oncologists explained that even if the nodule turns out to be cancerous, Leo’s prognosis is "excellent" since it will have been removed at an early stage.
The surgery, which is usually performed under general anesthesia, will require a weeklong hospital stay and the Vatican on Monday canceled all Leo’s audiences through Oct. 20.
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Rome’s Gemelli hospital papal apartment that previous popes have used, but Leo will stay in a nearby room since the papal apartment is currently undergoing renovations, the AP noted, referencing the Vatican press office.
Dr. Lorenzo Spaggiari, director of thoracic surgery at the European Institute of Oncology, or EIO, in Milan, who is not involved in the pope’s care but is familiar with the team at Gemelli.
Spaggiari told the AP that he expected the team at Gemelli would perform a biopsy to determine whether Leo has lung cancer after the removal of a section or lobe of the lung where the nodule is located.
According to the AP, a lung nodule is a small abnormal area measuring fewer than 3 centimeters that sometimes appears on a CT scan of the chest or abdomen.
The scans are done to probe trauma or a lung infection, unrelated to lung cancer evaluations. A nodule can be benign or malignant, and often surgical removal is suggested to determine whether it is cancer and to treat a malignancy while it is still localized.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, which cites comments from the Vatican, and a doctor familiar with the procedure Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to undergo. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.