Pope Leo XIV has been diagnosed with lung cancer but had successful surgery to remove a lower lobe of his right lung, the Vatican has said in a medical bulletin.
The 71-year-old underwent a 90-minute surgery on Tuesday at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital and was subsequently diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma – a type of cancer usually found in the outer part of the organ.
“The operation was successful and there were no complications,” the Vatican said. “After the operation, the Pope awoke normally and returned after a brief period of observation to his room.”
The pontiff had a “peaceful night” in the hospital, the Vatican said on Wednesday morning, and he is expected to remain there for about a week.
Large crowds had waited outside the hospital for the Pope’s arrival on Tuesday, cheering as he waved and smiled through a window as his car went past.
He was met by staff on the hospital steps. “I’m sorry,” one of them commiserated, to which the Pope gave a smile and a shrug.
The Vatican said the whole lower lobe of the Pope’s right lung was removed during a roughly 90-minute surgery “to ensure the procedure was radical”.
It was Leo himself who on Sunday announced news of his operation to the world during his weekly Sunday prayers, telling the crowd in St Peter’s Square that doctors had found a nodule on his lung.
He reassured pilgrims that the mass was “well-contained” and caught “at an early stage” but that his doctors had advised him to have it removed.
Nodules are quite common and not necessarily cancerous, but after it was examined the medical team confirmed it was, “as suspected by pre-operative tests”, the Vatican said.
A Vatican source told news agency AFP that further tests were now being carried out to see whether the cancer had spread.
