Papa diagnosed with pulmonary adenocarcinoma “as suspected”

O Vatican announced this Tuesday that Pope Leo XIV was diagnosed with a pulmonary adenocarcinoma, after having undergone thoracic surgery, to remove a nodule in the lung at Gemelli Hospital in Rome.

“The Holy Father was submitted, as planned, to a thoracic surgery intervention. For the surgery to be radical, the lower lobe of the right lung was removed through a video-assisted technique. The immediate histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of a pulmonary adenocarcinoma, as suspected in the preoperative exams ", reads in a statement released by the Holy See and signed by the doctor Luigi Carbone and Professor Stefano Margaritora.

The same note said that the Supreme Pontiff “stayed in the operating room for about three hours, with surgery lasting about 90 minutes”. 

“The surgery was successful and there were no complications. After the intervention, the Pope woke up normally and, after a brief period of observation, returned to his room on the 10th floor”, he added.

The surgical team was led by Professor Stefano Margaritora, who was assisted by Professor Elisa Meacci, Doctor Maria Teresa Congedo and Doctor Leonardo Petracca Caravella. The anesthesiology team, in turn, was composed by Professor Massimo Antonelli, Doctor Giovanni Punzo and Doctor Giuseppe Bello.

It is recalled that Leo XIV was admitted to the hospital early this afternoon, two days after he announced that he would be operated on a “circumscribed to the lung”, which was detected “in a very early phase”.

Oncologists cited by the United States agency Associated Press (AP) considered that, even if the nodule was carcinogenic, the prognosis was “excellent”, since it was removed at an early stage.

Faithful men and women religious gathered in the chapel of Gemelli Hospital in Rome to pray for the Pope's health.

On Monday, the Vatican canceled all audiences of the Pope until the next 20 October, two weeks after the surgery.

Leo XIV became the leader of 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide – and the first American Pope in history – on May 8, 2025, after the death of the Argentine Pope Francis at the age of 88.

Although less exuberant than the predecessor, Leo XIV gradually imprinted his own style on the leadership of the Catholic Church, addressing some of the most pressing issues worldwide from deadly conflicts to Artificial Intelligence.

[News updated at 9:35 p.m.]