Pope Leo XIV to have surgery to remove a lung nodule
The pontiff said it was found at a very early stage. The Holy See expects the operation at Rome's Gemelli hospital early this week.
Pope Leo XIV announced on Sunday that he will have surgery to remove a nodule from his lung. The message appeared on his official Spanish-language account, @Pontifex_es, on X.
The full text, translated from Spanish:
"Dear friends: recently, during a check-up, doctors found a nodule located in my lung. It was detected at a very early stage and is well localized. The doctors consider it advisable to intervene. For that reason, following their advice, I have decided to have surgery to remove it. The operation is already scheduled for the coming days. I thank you for your spiritual closeness and entrust myself to your prayers."
According to Vatican News, the pope made the same announcement during Sunday's Angelus. Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, told reporters the operation is scheduled for the first days of this week and that recovery will take about a week. It will take place at Rome's Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, which keeps an apartment reserved for the pontiff.
As of the close of this report, neither the pope nor the Press Office had given details on the type of procedure or the exact day.
Leo XIV, elected in May 2025 and the first American pope, is scheduled to visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from Nov. 6 to 17. CBS News reported it is unclear whether the surgery and recovery will affect that trip.
