Pope Leo XIV announces that he will have to undergo surgery
A nodule has been detected in one lung
The operation with which Pope Leo XIV will have a nodule removed from one lung in an «initial stage» is scheduled for the coming days and will entail a one-week postoperative hospital stay, as confirmed this Sunday by the Holy See.
“In response to journalists’ questions, I can specify that the procedure is scheduled for the first days of next week and that the expected postoperative hospitalization time is approximately one week,” indicated Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni in a brief statement.
Leo XIV, 71, and pope since May 2025, unexpectedly announced this Sunday, from the window of the Apostolic Palace after the Angelus prayer, that he will have to undergo surgery for a nodule in one lung that was diagnosed at a «very early» stage.
"Recently, during some check-ups, doctors found a circumscribed nodule in my lung. It was detected at a very early stage and is well localized," said the American pontiff.
Leo XIV explained that the doctors who have been treating him “consider it advisable to intervene” and, following their advice, he has decided “to undergo surgery to remove” the nodule “in the coming days.”
The popes have an apartment at their disposal in Rome's Gemelli Hospital to undergo this type of operation and hospitalization.
Meloni expresses her closeness to the pope ahead of his upcoming operation
Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, expressed this Sunday her personal closeness, and that of her Government, to Pope Leo XIV, who will have to undergo surgery in the coming days for a nodule in a lung.
“I wish to express to the Holy Father my personal closeness and that of the Italian Government in the face of the trial he will have to undergo in the coming days,” the leader said in an official statement.
Meloni highlighted the «serenity and calm» with which the pontiff announced this medical appointment, publicly and from the window of the Apostolic Palace, before a St. Peter's Square filled with faithful who had come to pray the Sunday Angelus.
“The serenity and calm with which he referred to it during today’s Angelus comfort us. I am sure that the Italian people will also offer him all their support and affection,” Meloni emphasized.
