Pope Leo will undergo surgery on Tuesday to remove a small growth found on one of his lungs, the Vatican announced. The 71-year-old pontiff, elected in May 2025, will be hospitalised late on Tuesday morning. The Vatican press office confirmed that the growth, a small nodule, was found during a routine health check and is "well-contained".
Despite his upcoming surgery, Pope Leo maintained a busy schedule on Monday, holding seven previously planned meetings in the morning. He met with visiting bishops from Argentina, Nicaragua, and the US, among others. In a meeting with members of a Rome-based charity group, the pope spoke in a strong, clear voice, thanking them for their work.
The Vatican has cancelled all public events scheduled for Pope Leo from Tuesday until October 20. This includes a Mass in St Peter's Square on Wednesday morning, which will now be led by Filipino Cardinal Luis Tagle. Tagle was recently approved as the dean of the Church's College of Cardinals, a role that will see him organise the secret conclave to elect a new pope in the event of Leo's death or resignation.
According to Dr Federico Venuto, chief of thoracic surgery at Rome's Policlinico Umberto I hospital, surgeries to remove lung nodules are usually minimally invasive. The complication rate is extremely low, and the procedure may involve the use of a thin camera tube called a thoracoscope. The American Thoracic Society estimates that fewer than 5% of lung nodules overall prove cancerous.
Pope Leo's decision to discuss his upcoming surgery publicly has been seen as a departure from his predecessor, the late Pope Francis. Francis, who died in April 2025 at age 88, was hospitalised several times as he grew frail in his later years, but did not usually announce his hospital visits in advance. Canadian Cardinal Gérald Lacroix praised Leo's transparency, saying he appreciated the pope's decision to share his health news publicly.
The Vatican has said that Pope Leo's recovery is expected to take about a week. During this time, the business of the Vatican's vast bureaucracy will carry on as usual, with no decisions requiring papal approval being made. As the leader of the 1.4-billion member church, Pope Leo does not have a deputy who steps in when he is sick.
Pope Leo, who enjoys sports including tennis and is not known to be a smoker or have had health issues previously, is relatively young for a church leader. The pope's transparency about his health has been welcomed by some, including Cardinal Lacroix, who said he liked that Leo had shared his news publicly and asked for prayers.
Key points
- The complication rate for lung nodule removal surgery is extremely low.
- Pope Leo's recovery is expected to take about a week.
- The pope's transparency about his health marks a departure from his predecessor, Pope Francis.
