Pope Leo XIV Has Lung Cancer, Vatican Says After Surgeons Remove Lower Lobe of Right Lung

Since the Vatican announced Sunday, Oct. 11 that a lung nodule would be removed, it has now been confirmed as cancer. The Holy See Press Office said Tuesday, Oct. 13 that Pope Leo XIV, 71, has lung adenocarcinoma, confirmed during surgery at Rome's Gemelli Hospital.

What the Vatican said about the operation

Surgeons removed the lower lobe of the pope's right lung using a video-assisted technique. The statement, from Dr. Luigi Carbone and Professor Stefano Margaritora, said the aim was "to ensure a radical resection."

The pope was in the operating room for about three hours. The operation itself lasted about 90 minutes.

The doctors called the surgery successful, with no complications. They said an intraoperative histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of adenocarcinoma, "as suspected from the preoperative examinations."

Leo woke normally and, after a brief observation period, went back to his room on the hospital's 10th floor. Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, said the pope asked for dinner and spent the evening with his secretaries and other Vatican staff.

Margaritora, Gemelli's chief thoracic surgeon, led the team. He was assisted by Professor Elisa Meacci, Dr. Maria Teresa Congedo and Dr. Leonardo Petracca Ciavarella. The anesthesia team was Professor Massimo Antonelli, Dr. Giovanni Punzo and Dr. Giuseppe Bello.

Medical staff prayed the rosary as the operation began, led by Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the vicar of Rome, according to NBC News.

What has not been disclosed

The Vatican has not said what stage the cancer is in or whether it has spread. It has also not said whether further treatment is planned.

The removed tissue will undergo further examination in the coming days. The Vatican said the preoperative tests had already shown the surgeons where and how to operate.

Dr. David Jones, chief of thoracic surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, told CBS News what he would want to see. "We're going to need to get more information on his pathology," he said. "Were lymph nodes involved? What's some of the molecular pathology that's going to be done that can help dictate what therapy, if any, is indicated?"

Candida Moss, the Edward Cadbury professor of theology at the University of Birmingham, was blunter about Vatican communication. "The Vatican tends to keep these things under wraps, so there'll be a lot of reading between the lines to try and detect what is the state of the pope's health," she told CBS News.

That is her assessment, not a finding. The Vatican's own bulletin has been specific on the surgery and silent on staging.

The calendar

The Vatican said the planned hospital stay of one week has not changed. The press office is expected to update the public Wednesday morning, Oct. 14, on how the pope spent the night and on any test results that have come in.

The Vatican canceled all of Leo's audiences through Oct. 20.

His South America trip is scheduled to start Nov. 6. CBS News reported that the typical recommendation after a procedure like this is to avoid air travel for about three weeks. That would put him right up against the departure date. The Vatican has not said whether the trip will go ahead.

Moss said Vatican protocol calls for cardinals and aides to take over many of the pope's duties as needed. She also expects Leo to keep working as much as he can. "We have a long tradition of popes," she said, naming Francis and John Paul II, who "continued to remain as active as they could."

The patient

Leo, born in Chicago, has been pope for about a year and a half. He had no previously known health problems and is known for swimming and playing tennis. CBS News noted that an active lifestyle likely worked in his favor going into the operation.

On Sunday he told the crowd in St. Peter's Square that the nodule "was detected at a very early stage and is well localized." He said he decided on surgery on his doctors' advice.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops asked the faithful to keep praying for his recovery and for "all who are living with cancer." Archbishop Ronald Hicks of New York said in a post on X that the surgery was "by all accounts, successful."

What to watch

The next Vatican bulletin, expected Wednesday morning, is the first chance to learn whether the tissue results add anything on stage or lymph node involvement. Those pathology findings, which Jones says will determine whether any further therapy is indicated, will also bear on whether the Nov. 6 trip stays on the schedule.