VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV announced Sunday that he would undergo surgery “in the coming days” to remove a nodule on his lung, the first major health event of the year. his 17-month pontificate.
Leo, 71, said the nodule was discovered at an early stage and was “circumscribed” or small and well localized. The Vatican said Leo’s expected recovery time after the operation would be one week.
The American Pope made the announcement during his Sunday noon blessing in an unusual display of transparency about his health. He thanked the crowd for their closeness and entrusted himself to their prayers.
The Vatican has not said when exactly the operation would take place except early this week. Leo has one main event coming up: the closing Mass Wednesday of a weeklong conference on family ministry, but Vatican officials suggested he might miss it.
A nodule can be benign or malignant
A lung nodule is a small abnormal area measuring less than 3 centimeters (1 inch) that sometimes appears on a CT scan of the chest or abdomen, according to the American Cancer Society. Often, the tests are done to investigate lung trauma or infection, unrelated to lung cancer screening.
“Lung nodules are quite common and are often benign, but benign and cancerous nodules can have a similar appearance on imaging,” said Dr. Stephen Liu, a lung cancer expert at Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Georgetown.
“When there is sufficient concern and it is safe to do so based on the location of the nodule and the patient’s overall health, surgical removal can provide a definitive diagnosis,” he said.
If the nodule turns out to be cancerous, the prognosis is “excellent” since it will have been removed at an early stage and surgery alone could be enough for Leo in terms of treatment, he said in an interview.
“It can often be a blessing in disguise to eliminate that cancer before it has a chance to grow or spread,” he said.
Leo has no previously known health problems and is physically active, with weekly tennis matches and swimming at the papal summer retreat at Castel Gandolfo.
The pope has planned a major trip from November 6 to 17 to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. It’s unclear how or if the planned surgery and recovery might affect the itinerary, but Leo said earlier in his remarks Sunday that he still plans to go.
In his speech, delivered in Italian, Leo said that during a recent medical examination, “doctors found a circumscribed nodule in my lung. It was detected at a very early stage and is well localized. The doctors think it is best to act, so, following their advice, I decided to undergo surgery to remove it.”
He thanked the faithful “for your spiritual support, and I entrust myself to your prayers”.
Surgery at the Pope’s Hospital
Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, who died on April 21, 2025, of a stroke following a long hospitalization caused by a respiratory crisis which evolved into double pneumonia. Francis suffered from chronic lung disease and had part of a lung removed as a young man.
Francis’ illnesses have been characterized by a dizzying and sometimes problematic disclosure of information from the Vatican, which always guards closely the confidentiality of a pope’s health. In one infamous incident, the Vatican said Francis went to the hospital in March 2023 for scheduled checkups, but the pontiff later revealed he felt chest pain and was rushed to the hospital where he was diagnosed with bronchitis. He ended up being admitted for three days.
This time, Leo seemed eager to control the message and deliver it himself, using one of his most public meetings with the faithful to alert them of his condition and impending hospitalization.
Leo is expected to have surgery at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, where Francis and popes before him were treated and where there is a special apartment for pontiffs. As of Sunday, there were no obvious signs that the pope had already been admitted.
A nodule does not mean cancer but should be investigated
Dr Dionysis Papadatos-Pastos, an oncologist and lung cancer specialist at the London Clinic, stressed that an incidental finding of a lung nodule does not mean lung cancer. And in fact, “a well-circumscribed nodule suggests it is less likely to be cancer.”
But he said cancer was possible and the main imperative was to investigate. “The worst thing you can do is ignore a lung nodule,” he said in an interview.
Liu, the Georgetown oncologist, said surgical removal in such a case is the norm, especially for a healthy person and if the nodule is in an easily accessible location. A needle biopsy on a lung nodule can be difficult and may not provide doctors with enough information, he said.
“In these cases, the surgery itself, although it may seem dramatic, is often very safe, very simple, with rapid recovery,” he said, adding that Leo should be in good shape to travel to Latin America, barring complications.
Leo is not known to be a smoker. Liu noted that one in five people diagnosed with lung cancer have no history of smoking.
Dr. Massimo Di Maio, president of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology, said it will be important to determine whether the nodule is benign or malignant, and if malignant, whether it has spread. When the disease is detected at an early stage, “the goal… is curative,” he added.
Depending on what is discovered, possible treatments may include chemotherapy and radiotherapy, Di Maio told private Italian broadcaster Sky TG24.
“When we talk about something localized, it can also refer to the need to determine whether the disease is confined to that one location or whether the scans show signs of disease elsewhere,” he said, adding that he had not treated the pope and was talking about the disease in general.
“Being physically fit and healthy is certainly an important starting point to best cope with treatment, including surgery,” he added.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, among the few foreigners to visit Francis during his long final hospitalization, expressed her and the Italian government’s support for Leo “as he faces this challenge in the coming days.” In a statement, she added that “the serenity and calm with which he spoke about it” was reassuring.
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Barry reported from Milan; AP reporter Danica Kirka contributed from London.
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