Pope Leo XIV will have an operation to take out a small growth on his lung, Vatican officials have said. The 71-year-old pontiff is set to check into Rome’s Gemelli Hospital late on Tuesday morning ahead of the procedure.
Diagnosis, recovery and cancelled audiences
Speaking at his weekly blessing in St Peter’s Square on Sunday, the pope told pilgrims that a small nodule had been found on his left lung during a routine medical checkup. He said the growth was contained and had been caught early. Speaking in Italian, he explained that doctors advised acting, so he had decided to go ahead with surgery.
The Vatican said about a week of recovery is expected, a period that has led to the cancellation of upcoming papal audiences. Those audiences are now off the schedule until October 20. Spokespeople declined to say whether the nodule is believed to be cancerous.
Health record, tour plans and Francis’s hospital visits
The pope has no reported history of serious illness and is regarded as physically active, with regular swimming and tennis. The operation comes before an official Latin America tour planned for November 6 to 17, with stops in Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. It remains unclear whether surgery and recovery will alter that schedule, but the pontiff told reporters on Sunday he intends to make the trip.
His predecessor, Pope Francis, died at 88 after being hospitalised several times and growing frail in his later years. Francis did not usually announce his hospital visits in advance, a habit that sometimes fuelled intense media speculation about his health.
