Pope Leo XIV Scheduled for Surgery to Remove a Lung Nodule

Pope Leo XIV was scheduled to enter Rome's Gemelli Hospital late in the morning on Tuesday, October 13, for surgery to remove a localized nodule in his lung, Vatican News reports. Matteo Bruni, Director of the Holy See Press Office, called it a "small, localized lung nodule" and confirmed that the pope's hospital stay after the operation is expected to last about one week.

The pope made the announcement himself at the Sunday Angelus on October 11, Catholic News Service reports. He told the crowd in St. Peter's Square that doctors found the nodule during recent medical examinations, that it was detected at a very early stage and that it is well localized. ABC News reports the pope, who is 71, said doctors thought it was "opportune to intervene." Bruni told reporters the examinations had been routine checks, according to Vatican News.

The Prefecture of the Papal Household cancelled all of the pope's audiences through Tuesday, October 20, Vatican News reports. Still, he held all his scheduled audiences on Monday morning, and he has received messages of support from churches and political leaders on all five continents. Before his announcement on Sunday, ABC News reports, he thanked a Peruvian group for praying for the apostolic visit he plans to make to Peru.

The surgery also changes plans for a meeting under way at the Vatican. Vatican News reports that the pope will not preside at the Mass scheduled for Wednesday, October 14, in St. Peter's Square with the meeting's participants, including heads of Eastern Churches, presidents of bishops' conferences, married couples and experts. He has entrusted that role to Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the new Dean of the College of Cardinals. Jesuit Fr. Giacomo Costa, a consultor to the General Secretariat of the Synod, said that during the Mass they will pray especially for the Holy Father's health and for families. The pope also asked that the meeting's synthesis report not be published as planned, so that he can hear its contents after leaving the hospital and offer his own reflections.

Gemelli is the hospital popes commonly use, ABC News notes, including the late Pope Francis, who died in 2025 at the age of 88. A lung nodule is a small mass of dense tissue on the lung, according to the American Lung Association, and surgery can be part of diagnosing and treating it. Catholic News Service reports that the bishops of the United States said they join the faithful in praying for the pope's good health and asked people to take a moment to pray for him and his care team. James 5:16 calls us to pray for one another, so let us ask the Lord for a steady hand for the surgeons and a full recovery for the pope.

Read James 5:16