Pope Leo diagnosed with cancer and had lower lobe of lung removed, Vatican says
Pope Leo XIV has been diagnosed with cancer and had the lower lobe of his right lung removed during surgery on Tuesday, according to the Vatican.
Tests confirmed a diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, a common form of lung cancer, the Vatican said in a medical bulletin. The diagnosis had been suspected due to preoperative tests and was confirmed during surgery.
The 71-year-old pontiff spent around 3 hours inside the operating room, though the surgery itself took approximately 90 minutes. “The surgery was successful, and there were no complications,” the Vatican’s statement said.
Leo was greeted at the hospital by dozens of well-wishers before the procedure and was awake and resting in his hospital room after the surgery.
In a rare level of transparency, Pope Leo revealed the discovery of a small nodule on his lung during his Sunday noon prayer and announced that he would have it removed.
A lung nodule is a small abnormal area measuring less than 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) that sometimes appears on a CT scan of the chest or abdomen. The scans are often done to investigate trauma or a lung infection, unrelated to a lung cancer screening. A nodule can be benign or malignant, and oftentimes surgical removal is recommended to establish whether it is cancer, and to treat a malignancy while it is still localized.
Prior to the procedure, oncologists noted that even if the growth proved to be cancerous, Leo’s prognosis was “excellent” because it would be removed at an early stage.
The Vatican on Monday has canceled all of Leo’s audiences through Oct. 20 due to his recovery.
The lung surgery 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.
Leo came down with typhoid fever as a young missionary priest 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.”
