Top photo caption: Pope Leo XIV waves from a car window as he leaves the Vatican ahead of his hospitalization for surgery to remove a lung nodule in Rome Oct. 13. OSV News photo/Remo Casilli, via Reuters
By Courtney Mares, OSV News
ROME OSV News — Pope Leo XIV was admitted Oct. 13 to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, where the Vatican has confirmed that he will undergo surgery to remove a lung nodule in the afternoon.
Dr. Stefano Margaritora, the hospital’s chief thoracic surgeon, will be the lead surgeon for the Pope’s operation assisted by a medical team, according to the Holy See Press Office.
The Pope arrived at the hospital by car at about 1 p.m. Rome time on Oct. 13, greeting hospital staff and waving to the hordes of journalists and well-wishers gathered outside the polyclinic hospital as he walked inside. The Vatican announced after his arrival that the surgery will be taking place later in the afternoon.
Pope Leo is expected to remain for one week of recovery in the Gemelli Hospital, located atop Monte Mario, the highest hill in Rome. The Vatican has canceled all of the Pope’s scheduled audiences through Oct. 20.
The Pope is being treated at the same hospital where Pope Francis and Pope John Paul II were treated throughout their pontificates, including John Paul II’s hospitalization after being shot in an assassination attempt in 1981. While the hospital has a special suite on the 10th floor reserved for papal medical emergencies, Pope Leo will be staying in a nearby room as the papal hospital room is currently undergoing renovations.
Medical experts told OSV News that lung nodules, or abnormal growths on the lungs, are far from unusual — and, for the most part, not life-threatening.
“Lung nodules are very common, and 90% of the time, they are benign,” said Dr. Stacey Su, chief of thoracic surgery at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia and associate professor of surgical oncology at Temple University’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine.
But, she said, “the potential impact of lung cancers is so grave that any lung nodule deserves serious attention.”
“Most of the time these are asymptomatic,” Dr. Nirmal Veeramachaneni, professor of cardiothoracic surgery at St. Louis University School of Medicine and medical director for lung cancer screening at SSM Health, said. “They’re often found incidentally.”
At the age of 71, Pope Leo is considered to be generally in good health. He noted in the first interview of his pontificate that he had only been hospitalized once in his life when he caught typhoid fever after recently arriving as an Augustinian missionary in Peru in 1985.
“It’s the only time in my life I’ve been hospitalized,” Pope Leo is quoted as saying in the book, “Pope Leo XIV” by Elise Ann Allen, calling it “a very significant” moment in his life that helped him more sharply focus on his new ministry.
Pope Leo’s surgery is taking place less than one month before he is scheduled to depart for Latin America for what would be the longest international trip of his pontificate Nov. 6 to 17, with stops in Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. The Vatican has not announced any changes to the trip.
Pope Leo first revealed to the world that he would undergo surgery at the end of his Angelus address in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 11. Speaking from the window of the Apostolic Palace, the Pope announced that doctors had discovered a nodule in his lung during a medical examination, adding that the growth was detected “at a very early stage” and was “well-contained.”
“The doctors believe intervention is advisable, so, following their advice, I have decided to undergo surgery to have it removed,” Pope Leo said.
A prayer vigil for the Pope’s healing, led by Cardinal Baldassare Reina, is scheduled to take place in the hospital chapel at 6 p.m. Rome time.
The Holy See Press Office has said that it will release more information on the Pope’s surgery in the evening.
Courtney Mares is Vatican editor for OSV News. Follow her on X @catholicourtney. Gina Christian, multimedia reporter for OSV News, contributed to this report.
Catholic journalism is needed now more than ever. Please consider supporting this work by signing up for a SUBSCRIPTION (click HERE) or making a DONATION to The Monitor (click HERE). Thank you for your contribution.