Doctors removed part of Pope Leo XIV’s right lung this week after surgery confirmed he has lung cancer, the Vatican said.
Story Snapshot
- Surgeons removed the lower lobe of Pope Leo’s right lung during an operation at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital.
- Tissue testing during the surgery confirmed lung adenocarcinoma, a type of cancer doctors had suspected before the operation.
- The Vatican says the surgery went well and the Pope is recovering with no complications so far.
- Key details — including the cancer’s stage and whether it spread — have not been made public.
Surgery Confirms Suspected Diagnosis
Doctors Luigi Carbone and Stefano Margaritora told the Holy See Press Office that tests done during surgery confirmed lung adenocarcinoma. The disease had already been suspected based on earlier scans and tests, according to the statement released through Vatican News on October 13. Surgeons used a video-assisted technique to remove the lower lobe of the Pope’s right lung.
The operation took about 90 minutes, and the Pope spent roughly three hours in the operating room total, according to the Vatican’s account reported by CNBC. Doctors said he woke up normally from anesthesia afterward. He was later moved back to his hospital room on the 10th floor once doctors confirmed he was stable.
Vatican Calls Operation A Success
The Vatican’s medical bulletin used direct language to describe how the surgery went. “The surgery was successful, and there were no complications,” the statement said, according to reporting from PBS NewsHour and the Associated Press. That wording matches what doctors told reporters in the hours after the procedure wrapped up at Gemelli Hospital, the same facility where past popes have received care.
Lung adenocarcinoma is the most common form of lung cancer, and surgery to remove the affected lobe is the standard treatment for patients whose disease is caught early enough to operate. Removing a lobe along with nearby lymph nodes gives doctors tissue to study for signs the cancer has spread, information that typically shapes decisions about follow-up treatment like chemotherapy or radiation.
What Remains Unknown About Recovery
The Vatican has not released the cancer’s stage, whether it reached the lymph nodes, or what follow-up treatment Pope Leo may need. Those details usually come from a full pathology report, which can take days or weeks to complete after surgery. Until that report becomes public, the term “successful surgery” refers to the operation itself, not a confirmed cure.
News outlets have noted that Pope Leo’s hospital stay was expected to last about a week, raising questions about his travel schedule, including a planned trip to Latin America. How quickly he returns to a full public schedule may offer the clearest signal yet about his recovery, since the Vatican has not committed to releasing further medical specifics beyond what doctors have already shared.
His Holiness Pope Leo XIV has been diagnosed with Lung cancer. It baffles me how a man that has never smoked all his life gets diagnosed with Lung cancer.
Dear Papa, your children(Catholics) all over the world pray for you today that you get healing. The Church militant, the… https://t.co/yGCW8V9npI
— Ize💙🌸 (@santaluceya) October 14, 2026
Health disclosures involving world leaders often raise a similar tension: the public’s interest in knowing whether a leader can carry out their duties against a patient’s right to private medical information. Doctors are generally bound by confidentiality rules unless the patient agrees to share more, which is why updates on heads of state, including popes and presidents, tend to come through official statements rather than independent medical records. For now, the Vatican’s account stands as the only detailed public record of what happened inside the operating room, and it describes a recovery that is, so far, going as planned.
Sources:
youtube.com, vaticannews.va, cnbc.com, dw.com, nbcchicago.com
