Pope Leo XIV to Have Lung Nodule Removed at Rome's Gemelli Hospital Tuesday

Since his election in May 2025, Pope Leo XIV has kept a full schedule with no publicly known hospitalization. On Sunday, Oct. 11, he told the crowd in St. Peter's Square that will change this week.

"During some recent medical examinations, the doctors found a small, localized nodule in my lung," the 71-year-old pope said during the noon Angelus. He said it was "detected at a very early stage and is well localized."

"The doctors believe it is best to intervene, so, following their advice, I have decided to undergo surgery to have it removed," he said.

What the Vatican has said

Vatican press office director Matteo Bruni said the operation is set for the first days of this week. He put the estimated post-operative recovery time at about one week.

The Vatican said the pope will be admitted to Rome's Gemelli Hospital late morning Tuesday, Oct. 13, ahead of the procedure. Gemelli is where recent popes have been treated.

The Vatican will keep functioning during his recovery. Decisions that need the pope's signature will be put on hold.

The Vatican has not said whether the nodule is cancerous. It has not described the type of surgery or released any further diagnostic detail.

Leo also posted the news on X, thanking followers for their "spiritual closeness" and asking for prayers. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri and the Italian Bishops' Conference were among the first to wish him well.

What a lung nodule is

A lung nodule is a small, dense area of tissue. The American Cancer Society defines it as an abnormal spot of 3 centimeters or less, usually found on a CT scan.

Most are benign. Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, a pulmonary physician at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said nodules are common in older adults. "The majority of lung nodules are benign," he said.

Galiatsatos, who is not treating the pope, also offered a reading of the decision to operate. "If they're now discussing that they need to remove the lung nodule, one of his tests must have crossed their threshold … and the suspicion and concern for cancer became a little bit higher," he said. That is his interpretation. The Vatican has not said what prompted the recommendation.

The pope's own description points the other way on timing: caught early and well localized.

A first for this pontificate

This is Leo's first medical issue requiring hospitalization since he became pope. He has been physically active, playing tennis regularly and swimming at the papal retreat in Castel Gandolfo. Italian media have reported that his renovated apartment in the Apostolic Palace includes a home gym.

His predecessor, Pope Francis, died in April 2025 at 88 after a long stretch of health problems that included an extended hospital stay.

Leo kept working after the announcement. According to CNN, he held back-to-back meetings Monday morning, then joined a gathering of bishops and church leaders at the Vatican.

In the same Sunday address, he appealed to the parties in the Ukraine war to allow safe transport of grain across the Black Sea. "The daily bread of millions of people cannot be held hostage by war," he said.

A day earlier, he used X to call for abolition of the death penalty, calling it "inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person."

The travel calendar

Leo is scheduled to make a major trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from Nov. 6 to 17. He lived in Peru for many years.

On Sunday he thanked pilgrims for their prayers "for the pastoral visit I will make to Peru," which suggests the plans have not changed. The Vatican has not said whether the surgery could alter the itinerary.

With a recovery estimate of about a week, the schedule leaves roughly three weeks between his expected return to duty and departure. Whether surgeons' findings, and the pope's recovery, keep that itinerary intact is the open question once the operation is done.