Pope Leo diagnosed with lung cancer after ‘successful’ surgery

[Stone]

Pope Leo diagnosed with lung cancer after ‘successful’ surgery
Part of Pope Leo XIV's right lung was removed during surgery in Rome on Tuesday.



Pope Leo XIV
Franco Origlia/Getty Images

Oct 13, 2026
(LifeSiteNews) — The Vatican confirmed Tuesday that Pope Leo XIV underwent surgery to remove part of a lung that included a cancerous growth.

The Holy See reported that the surgery was deemed successful and the 71-year-old Pontiff was resting after returning to his room at Agostino Gemelli University Policlinic hospital in northwest Rome.

“The procedure was completed successfully, within the expected time frame and as planned, and the Holy Father has returned to his room,” the Holy See Press Office said.

During the surgery, doctors said there was evidence of pulmonary adenocarcinoma, a common type of lung cancer, and that they removed part of the lung.

“The Holy Father underwent thoracic surgery as scheduled,” Dr. Luigi Carbone and Professor Stefano Margaritora said in a statement after the surgery. “To make the procedure more radical, the lower lobe of the right lung was removed using video-assisted surgery.”

Pope Leo had announced Sunday to a crowd in St. Peter’s Square that a nodule had been detected on his right lung and that he was scheduled to undergo a procedure this week while asking for prayers.

The U.S.-born Pope had not been reported to have any health issues since he was elected to the papacy last year.

Pope Leo had conducted a normal schedule with meetings on Monday before he entered the hospital. All of Leo’s scheduled events have since been cancelled until October 20. The Pope’s recovery in the hospital is expected to last a week.

Oncologists said the prognosis is good considering the cancer was caught at an early stage.

This story is developing…