Pope Leo XIV was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli University Hospital on Tuesday for surgery to remove a small nodule from his lung, the Vatican said, his first hospital stay since he became head of the Catholic Church on May 8, 2025. The operation was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon and is being carried out by the hospital’s thoracic surgery team led by Stefano Margaritora. The Vatican expects his recovery to take about a week, and all his audiences have been cancelled until October 20.
The 71-year-old pontiff disclosed the condition himself on Sunday, in a surprise announcement after the Angelus prayer in St Peter’s Square. He told pilgrims that doctors had found a localised nodule during recent medical examinations and that it had been detected “at a very early stage”. “The doctors believe it would be right to intervene,” he said. The Vatican added that the growth was picked up during routine health checks and that no symptoms had prompted doctors to examine his lungs.
Leo appeared at ease as he left the Vatican, waving to well-wishers from his car and greeting crowds outside the hospital before walking in. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, said the pope had been “very calm” about the nodule when they met on Monday. Japanese Cardinal Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, who also saw him that day, described him as “very relaxed, as he always is, and jokey, as usual”.
A pulmonary nodule is a small abnormal growth in the lung, generally measuring less than three centimetres across. Most are benign, though a small proportion can be an early sign of lung cancer. Federico Venuta, head of thoracic surgery at Rome’s Policlinico Umberto I, said such growths could be inflammatory, infectious, autoimmune or congenital, or could be malignant. The Vatican has not disclosed the size of the nodule or given any indication of its nature.
Venuta said that even if the growth proved not to be benign, the outlook would remain good. He said the prognosis for a generally healthy person whose lung cancer is caught this early, with no distant spread, is “absolutely favourable”. Early detection matters because of the scale of the disease worldwide. The International Agency for Research on Cancer estimates that lung cancer caused about 2.5 million new cases and 1.8 million deaths globally in 2022, making it the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death.
Marco Scarci, a thoracic surgery specialist in the United Kingdom, said the procedure was not a particularly risky one and that he expected a quick recovery. He cautioned, however, that it could take up to three months for the pope to return to his pre-surgery fitness. Venuta said patients are usually advised to avoid flying for about 20 days after such operations, although there is some flexibility.
That advice puts the spotlight on Leo’s planned November visit to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, his first major trip to South America as pope. He indicated on Sunday that he still intends to travel, but the Vatican has not said whether the surgery will affect the itinerary. Peru carries personal weight for the American pontiff, who served there for years as a missionary and bishop before his election.
The Gemelli has long been the hospital of the popes. A special papal suite was set up on its 10th floor after the 1981 assassination attempt on John Paul II, who was treated there so often that he nicknamed it “Vatican III”. The suite, which has a small chapel, kitchen, bathroom and meeting room, is under renovation, so Leo is staying in another suite on the same floor under tight security.
His stay invites comparison with the final years of his predecessor, Francis, who had colon surgery at the Gemelli in 2021 and spent 38 days there in early 2025 with double pneumonia. Francis died on April 21, 2025, at the age of 88. It was during his illnesses that the Vatican, traditionally guarded about papal health, began sharing more medical detail with the public.
Leo, born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago in 1955, is the first pope from the United States and is considered relatively young for the office. He plays tennis regularly and had no previously known health problems. While he is in hospital, the Vatican will function normally, but decisions requiring his signature have been put on hold.
Church law makes no provision for a deputy if a pope is incapacitated. The Cardinal Camerlengo, or chamberlain, assumes administrative duties only when a pope dies. Leo leads a church of about 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide.