Pope Leo undergoes surgical procedure to take away development on lung | Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo underwent an operation on Tuesday to take away a small development from his lung, which the Vatican stated concluded “efficiently, on schedule and as deliberate”.

In a uncommon second of Vatican transparency, Leo, 71, stated throughout his angelus prayer on Sunday that doctors had found a small nodule on his lung during a checkup, including that it was “well-contained” and detected early.

“The docs consider it might be proper to intervene and so, following their recommendation, I’ve determined to have the operation to take away it,” he stated to the crowds gathered in St Peter’s Square.

Leo, who in May final yr grew to become the primary US-born chief of the Roman Catholic church, is being handled in Rome’s Gemelli hospital, the place a big crowd greeted his arrival earlier on Tuesday.

The Vatican added in its assertion that Leo had “now returned to his room”.

All of his appointments have been cancelled till 20 October.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, stated he had seen Leo on Monday evening. “We spoke with nice serenity,” Parolin informed Rai News. “He is actually an excellent instance. The announcement got here like a bolt out of the blue, no one anticipated it. Thank God it was detected instantly, so the operation might happen instantly. Normally, when this stuff are caught in time, they are often resolved.”

Leo is staying within the Tenth-floor private-patient wing however not within the papal suite, which is being renovated.

The Chicago-born pope, who enjoys sports activities, particularly taking part in tennis, is mostly believed to be in good well being. He usually makes use of the papal retreat in Castel Gandolfo, near Rome.

Leo travelled to France on a papal go to in September and is scheduled to go to South America in November for a 12-day journey protecting 10 cities.

The weekly papal viewers on Wednesday shall be led by Luis Antonio Tagle, a cardinal from the Philippines who final week was elected dean of the faculty of cardinals – the authority that presides over papal conclaves.

The Gemelli, positioned within the north-west of the Italian capital, is famend for treating reigning popes. Pope John Paul II stayed there so many occasions that the Vatican labored with the hospital to ascertain the high-security papal suite.

Leo’s predecessor, Francis, spent greater than 5 weeks within the hospital, being handled for bronchitis, which developed into bilateral pneumonia. He died at house in Casa Santa Marta in Vatican City on 21 April 2025, just below a month after being discharged.