Pope Leo XIV had the lower lobe of his right lung removed on the afternoon of Tuesday, 13 October, at the Policlinico Agostino Gemelli (Agostino Gemelli teaching hospital) in Rome. A histological examination carried out during the operation itself confirmed what earlier tests had already suggested: a lung adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer.
The information came in a statement signed by Dr Luigi Carbone, who heads the Vatican's health service, and Professor Stefano Margaritora, who led the surgical team. According to the text, the operation was completed "successfully, as planned and within the expected time", with no complications.
Ninety minutes in theatre
The 71-year-old pope spent about three hours in the operating suite. The operation itself lasted roughly 90 minutes and was performed using a video-assisted technique — a minimally invasive approach in which the surgeon works through small incisions with a camera and instruments rather than opening the chest. The statement said the aim was to ensure a "radical resection": complete removal of the affected tissue with a safety margin.
Margaritora was assisted by Professor Elisa Meacci and doctors Maria Teresa Congedo and Leonardo Petracca Ciavarella. Anaesthesia was handled by Professor Massimo Antonelli and doctors Giovanni Punzo and Giuseppe Bello.
Leo XIV woke normally, was observed briefly and returned to his room on the hospital's tenth floor — next to the papal apartment where Francis was treated about a year and a half ago. Still on Tuesday he asked for dinner and spent the evening with his secretaries and Vatican staff, according to the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni. On the morning of Wednesday 14, the Vatican said the night had been calm.
What is still unknown
The Vatican described the tumour as caught at an early stage and localised — two factors that weigh in favour of the prognosis. But the tests that will show whether the cancer has spread are not yet complete: the removed tissue will be analysed over the coming days, and only then will the medical team decide whether chemotherapy or other therapies are indicated.
It is the first time Leo XIV has been hospitalised since his election on 8 May 2025.
The paused diary — and the November trip
The hospital stay is expected to last about a week, and papal audiences have been cancelled until 20 October.
The open question is the trip to South America scheduled for 6 to 17 November, taking in Uruguay, Argentina and Peru — the country where the pope spent decades as a missionary and bishop. It would be the longest journey of his pontificate: more than 31,000 kilometres, 12 flights and two helicopter legs.
That is where the calendar gets tight. Oncology protocols advise against flying in the three weeks following chest surgery, and barely more than three weeks separate the operation from departure. The Vatican has neither cancelled nor confirmed the trip.
The cardinal of Tokyo, Kikuchi Tsutomu, who saw the pope on Monday 12, said there was no reason for concern because this was not an emergency, and that Leo XIV chose to have the operation now precisely so as not to alter his plans for future trips abroad.
With information from Vatican News, Euronews, CNN and Al Jazeera.
