Pope Leo XIV has surgery for lung cancer detected early
· BehindLines newsroom
Pope Leo XIV, 71, underwent surgery at Rome's Gemelli hospital on Tuesday and has lung cancer, the Vatican announced in a medical bulletin released late in the day. Surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung. Tests confirmed pulmonary adenocarcinoma, which examinations before the operation had already led doctors to suspect.
Surgery without complications, according to the Vatican
The Holy See said the operation itself took about 90 minutes, with nearly three hours spent in the operating theatre, and went as planned without complications. The pope returned to a room in the private patients' wing, as the hospital's papal apartment is being renovated. The Vatican press office explained that “radical” in the bulletin meant doctors had removed all suspicious tissue in the hope of eliminating the disease. No chemotherapy has been mentioned for now, pending further results, Al Jazeera reports. The Vatican has given no prognosis.
Unusual openness
At Sunday's Angelus in St Peter's Square, the pope himself had announced that doctors had found a small nodule during a check-up and that he had agreed to surgery on their advice. Such frankness is rare for a pontiff, the Guardian notes. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the secretary of state, expressed confidence, saying early detection had allowed doctors to act immediately.
A schedule on hold
All audiences have been cancelled until 20 October. Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle will lead Wednesday's general audience. Recovery is expected to take about a week. A trip to South America in November, covering Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, remains on the calendar: the pope said on Sunday that he wanted to keep it, but an itinerary involving around a dozen flights and major changes in altitude promises to be demanding.
The first US-born pope, elected in May 2025, Leo XIV had been considered in good health and regularly plays tennis. His predecessor, Francis, spent more than five weeks at Gemelli before dying in April 2025.