Pope Leo XIV Hospitalised For Lung Nodule Removal Sugery

Pope Leo XIV was admitted to a hospital in Rome on Tuesday for surgery to remove a nodule on his lung, with cardinals saying he appeared “very relaxed” about the operation.

The surgery to remove the pulmonary nodule, a small growth of tissue in the lung, marks the 71-year-old pontiff’s first hospitalisation since he became head of the Catholic Church on May 8, 2025.

The Vatican said the operation would take place on Tuesday afternoon.

On Sunday, following the Angelus prayers, Leo announced to the faithful in St Peter’s Square that doctors had discovered the nodule “at a very early stage” during recent medical checks.

“The doctors believe it would be right to intervene,” he said.

The pope waved to well-wishers as he left the Vatican by car and smiled and waved at crowds waiting for him at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital before walking into the facility.

According to the Vatican, the operation would be performed by the hospital’s thoracic surgery team, led by Stefano Margaritora.

Leo’s recovery is expected to take about a week, while his audiences have been cancelled until October 20.

The Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, told the ANSA news agency that the pope had been “very calm” about the nodule when they met on Monday.

Japanese Cardinal Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, who also met with Leo on Monday, told the Repubblica daily that the pontiff was “very relaxed, as he always is, and jokey, as usual”.

Rome’s Gemelli Hospital is the facility where popes are usually treated. They typically stay in a special suite on the 10th floor equipped with a small chapel, kitchen, bathroom and meeting room.

However, because the suite is undergoing renovation, Leo will stay in another suite on the same floor under high security.

He is also expected to have his personal nurse, Massimiliano Strappetti, who cared for his predecessor, Pope Francis, during several hospital stays at Gemelli before his death last year.

Lung Nodule Discovered During Routine Checks

Leo, who was born in Chicago and is the first American pope, is considered sporty and generally in good health.

The Vatican told AFP that the nodule was discovered during routine medical checks and that the pope had shown no symptoms that prompted doctors to examine his lungs.

Most pulmonary nodules are benign, or non-cancerous, although a small percentage can indicate early-stage lung cancer.

Professor Federico Venuta, head of thoracic surgery at Rome’s Policlinico Umberto I hospital, told AFP that a small nodule is sometimes called a “coin lesion” because of its appearance on X-rays.

While small nodules often cause no symptoms, larger ones can lead to shortness of breath, chest pain and persistent coughing, sometimes accompanied by blood.

Venuta said such nodules could result from various benign conditions, including inflammation, infections, autoimmune diseases or congenital abnormalities, but could also be malignant.

Removing a nodule may require general anaesthesia, with the patient breathing through a tube. Depending on the case, doctors may access the lesion through image-guided biopsy, endoscopy or other surgical procedures.

Venuta described the outlook as “very positive” even if the nodule proves malignant, noting that lung cancer detected at an early stage, before spreading to distant parts of the body, generally has a favourable prognosis in an otherwise healthy person.

South American Trip Still Scheduled

The pope is scheduled to travel to South America from November 6 to 17, with planned visits to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru.

Venuta told AFP that patients are generally advised to avoid air travel for about 20 days following such surgeries, although the timing can vary depending on recovery.

It was not immediately clear whether the operation would affect Leo’s planned trip.

Under Catholic Church law, the Cardinal Camerlengo assumes administrative responsibilities if a pope dies. However, the Church has no deputy who automatically replaces a pontiff if he becomes incapacitated.

A thoracic surgery expert in the United Kingdom, Marco Scarci, told AFP that the procedure was “not a particularly risky operation” and expected the pope to recover quickly, although it could take up to three months for him to regain his pre-surgery fitness level.