The Vatican announced that on Tuesday Pope Leo will be admitted to hospital for surgery to remove a small growth discovered on one of his lungs. At the same time, on Monday the pontiff maintained a busy schedule, holding seven previously scheduled meetings in the morning, UNN reports, citing Reuters.
Details
On Sunday, 71-year-old Leo said that the growth — a small nodule — had been discovered during a recent medical examination; it is localized and was detected at an early stage. Before his hospitalization, the Pope canceled all public engagements from Tuesday through October 20.
The Vatican press office told journalists on Monday that the nodule had been detected during a routine medical examination; it also confirmed that the Pope was expected to be hospitalized on Tuesday in the late morning, before the operation.
The exact time of the operation itself was not disclosed.
In the usual bulletin on the Pope’s schedule, released at noon (10:00 GMT) on Monday, it was stated that that morning he had met, among others, with bishops from Argentina, Nicaragua and the United States who were visiting.
During a meeting at the Vatican with members of a Roman charitable organization on Monday, the Pope spoke in a confident, clear voice, thanking them for their work.
In addition
Leo, elected Pope by the College of Cardinals in May 2025, is relatively young for the head of the Church. He is fond of sports, particularly tennis; he is known not to smoke and has not previously had health problems.
The Vatican said that the Pope’s recovery period is expected to last about a week.
A lung nodule is a small, localized growth that may be benign. According to the American Thoracic Society, fewer than 5% of lung nodules prove to be malignant, although the risk increases with age, the size of the growth and other factors such as smoking. Dr. Federico Venuto, head of the thoracic surgery department at Rome’s Policlinico Umberto I hospital, said that operations to remove lung nodules are usually minimally invasive and sometimes involve the use of a thin tube with a camera — a thoracoscope.
"The rate of complications is extremely low," he told Reuters.
Leo’s decision to speak publicly about the forthcoming operation on Sunday contrasted with the behavior of his predecessor, the late Pope Francis, who died in April 2025 at the age of 88.
Francis was hospitalized several times because of deteriorating health in the final years of his life and usually did not announce his hospitalizations in advance, which sometimes caused a media frenzy around the state of his health.
Canadian Cardinal Gérald Lacroix expressed his gratitude for Leo’s openness on Monday.
"I really appreciate that yesterday... he himself said: ‘This is what is happening’ — very openly — and asked for prayers," Lacroix said. "I like that."
Leo, head of the Church’s 1.4 billion faithful, had several public events scheduled for this week, including Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday morning.
The Vatican said that the Mass will now be celebrated by Filipino Cardinal Luis Tagle — a Vatican official whom Leo approved last week as dean of the College of Cardinals; it was the first time that a cleric from Asia had been elected to this prestigious position.
In the event of the Pope’s death or resignation, the dean of the College of Cardinals is responsible for organizing the secret conclave to elect a successor.
The Pope is the highest earthly authority for Catholics around the world and has no deputy who would take over his duties during his illness. When the Pope is unable to perform his functions, the work of the Vatican’s vast bureaucracy continues as usual, except for decisions requiring papal approval.