Pope Leo will have surgery Tuesday afternoon at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital to remove a small tumor on one of his lungs, marking the first major health problem of his 17-month term.
Leo, 71, said Sunday that the growth, a small nodule, was discovered during a recent exam, was “well contained” and was spotted early.
The Vatican confirmed the timing of the operation after Leo was seen leaving the Vatican in a convoy of vehicles heading to Gemelli Hospital, about 9 km (5.6 miles) north of the Vatican.
The Vatican said his recovery was expected to take about a week. All of its public events have been canceled until October 20.
Leo, elected by the world’s cardinals in May 2025, is relatively young for a leader of the Church. He enjoys sports, especially tennis, and is not known to be a smoker or to have had any previous health problems.
A nodule on the lung is a small localized lesion that may be benign. The American Thoracic Society says that fewer than 5 percent of lung nodules turn out to be cancerous, although the risk increases with age, size and other factors such as smoking.
Dr. Federico Venuto, head of the thoracic surgery department at Policlinico Umberto I Hospital in Rome, said procedures to remove lung nodules are usually minimally invasive and can sometimes involve the use of a thin camera tube called a thoracoscope.
“The complication rate is extremely low,” he told Reuters.
The late Pope Francis, Leo’s predecessor, died at the age of 88 in April 2025 and was hospitalized several times as he became frail in his final years.
Leo, who spoke in a firm and clear voice during his only public event on Monday, has a very busy schedule. He is scheduled to complete an 11-day tour of Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from November 6 to 17.
In the same speech on Sunday, when the pope announced he would have to undergo surgery, he promised he would continue his journey.
Gn world
