VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV was diagnosed with lung cancer Tuesday and had part of his right lung removed, the Vatican said.
The announcement came after the seat of the Roman Catholic Church first reported that the pope’s surgery to remove a lung nodule was completed “successfully, on schedule and as planned.”
The 71-year-old Leo returned to his room after the surgery at Rome’s Gemelli hospital before a Vatican spokesperson announced that he was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma.
Adenocarcinoma is a type of non-small cell lung cancer, which tends to grow more slowly than other kinds of lung cancer. Non-small cell lung cancer accounts for about 80% of all cases, according to the American Lung Association.
Leo is not known to have ever been a smoker. This kind of cancer has been known to affect both smokers and nonsmokers.
In New York City, Archbishop Ronald Hicks issued a statement following the pope’s surgery.
“We thank God that the surgery on Pope Leo was, by all accounts, successful, and that he continues his recovery and recuperation,” Hicks said. “I know that I join with people from all corners of this archdiocese, across the country, and around the world in keeping the Holy Father in our prayers.”
The operation was led by Gemelli’s chief thoracic surgeon, Dr. Stefano Margaritora.
The operation got underway as medical staff recited the rosary prayer in the hospital chapel. “Let us join together in prayer, asking the Lord to sustain our bishop, Pope Leo, and to comfort all those who are hospitalized here,” said the vicar of Rome, Cardinal Baldassare Reina, at the start of the prayer.
Earlier, Leo appeared in good spirits when he left the Vatican for the hospital, waving at well-wishers from a lowered car window.
After the quick drive from the Vatican, the Chicago-born pope got out of the car, shook hands with the medical team and waved at a crowd waiting for him outside.
The 71-year-old pontiff has offered a rare level of transparency about the first publicly disclosed major health problem of his 17-month papacy. He revealed the discovery of the small, localized nodule during his Sunday prayer and announced that he would have it removed.
The surgery, which is usually performed under general anesthesia, will require a weeklong hospital stay; the Vatican on Monday canceled all of Leo’s audiences through Oct. 20.
In the Vatican, some pilgrims were worried, hopeful and a little disappointed.
Yolanda Avella, 57, was among thousands of people hoping to see Leo during the weekly general audience on Wednesday.
“Well, it’s not what I wanted, but we know it’s for the best. It’s for his health. So, we’re OK with that,” Avella, from Tampa, Florida, said as she stood in St. Peter’s Square before the cancer discovery was made public. “I am a little worried because it is a nodule in the lung. But I know he’s going to be OK.”
The Rev. Pius Mathew, who had organized the visit from Tampa, said he was disappointed that the group would miss seeing the pope but added that Leo’s health comes first.
“We prayed and we did the Mass yesterday,” he said. “We prayed together for the pope, for the recovery and the good surgery.”
It is not clear whether the pope will undergo additional treatment or when he may be back to work. He had been scheduled to travel Nov. 6-17 to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru.
The current itinerary for the trip is ambitious and the longest of his papacy to date, calling for Leo to clock just over 19,000 miles on a dozen flights and two helicopter rides, and a significant altitude change in Peru.
A churchman who saw Leo on Monday, Tokyo Cardinal Kikuchi Tsutomu, said Leo told him he felt fine and decided to have the surgery immediately so that he wouldn’t have to alter his upcoming travel plans to Latin America.
But the decision clearly came as a surprise: While Gemelli has a specific papal apartment that past popes have used, complete with a private chapel on the 10th floor, Leo is actually staying in a nearby room since the papal apartment is currently undergoing renovations, according to the Vatican press office.
The nodule was discovered during regular checks, the Vatican has said.
Kikuchi, the Tokyo archbishop who is also head of the Vatican’s charitable federation Caritas Internationalis, said Leo told him he felt no different than usual and was looking ahead to the trip.
“He has decided to undergo surgery soon in order to not change his plans for future overseas trips, so there is no need to worry, as it is not an emergency,” Kikuchi wrote on the Facebook page of the Tokyo archdiocese.
Tuesday is believed to be the second hospitalization for Leo, who is known to be sporty and in good shape, with weekly tennis games and swimming.
As a young missionary priest, he came down with typhoid fever in 1985, soon after arriving in Chulucanas, Peru.
The illness and hospitalization were a cathartic moment for him to decide to stay in the poverty and discomfort of Peru after living in relative comfort in Rome — a decision that ultimately paved the way to his papacy, according to an interview Leo gave to Elise Ann Allen in 2025 for “Pope Leo XIV: The Biography.”
According to the book, Leo said he prayed to God to let him die rather than suffer the “horrible” pain of the fever. “I was hooked up to an IV, and I said, ‘If this is your sense of humor, Lord, I think you could do a little better.’
“Obviously, I survived; I recovered, but it turned out to be a very significant moment for me, because it was like, ‘Well, you’ve already dealt with the illness; you already see what the needs are here — the order, the Augustinians, the church are telling you, “We need you here; go for it.”’ I never looked back.”
