Top photo caption: Visitors wait in line to enter St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Oct. 12, 2026, a day after Pope Leo XIV said doctors had detected a very early-stage nodule in his lung, and that he would undergo surgery in the coming days. OSV News photo/Yara Nardi, Reuters
By Junno Arocho Esteves, OSV News
OSV News – Prominent political and religious leaders from around the world expressed well wishes and prayers for Pope Leo XIV after he announced he would undergo surgery to remove a lung nodule.
The Pope made the surprise announcement while addressing pilgrims Oct. 11 during his Sunday Angelus address.
After doctors detected “a small, localized nodule” in his lung, Pope Leo said he would follow their advice and “undergo surgery to remove it.”
“The operation is already scheduled to take place in the coming days,” he said. ” I thank you for your spiritual closeness and entrust myself to your prayers.”
– Messages of support and prayers from around the world –
Not long after his announcement, Italian President Sergio Mattarella published a letter to Pope Leo saying that the news of his surgery “was received with deep empathy and emotion by all the Italian people.”
“In view of your hospitalization in the coming days, may the affectionate thoughts of all Italians reach you, which I convey while adding my own personal sentiments,” Mattarella wrote. “The Italian people stand close to you.”
The Italian head of state said the Pope could count on the prayers of not only the Catholic faithful, but also “on the caring thoughts of countless people, in Italy as well as across the world, whether believers or non-believers.”
Several world leaders also took to X to send well wishes to the Pope, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who wished Pope Leo “a successful surgery and a swift, full recovery.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with him, and we hope he will soon be back in good health and strength,” Zelenskyy wrote. “Ukraine is deeply grateful to His Holiness for his prayers and his strong, consistent calls for a dignified and durable peace.”
In a brief message posted to X, Israeli President Isaac Herzog wrote: “From the holy city of Jerusalem, I wish Pope Leo XIV a full and speedy recovery.”
Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela also extended “prayers and best wishes” to the Pope for “a successful procedure and a complete recovery.”
Pope Leo also received prayers from Anglican Archbishop Sarah Mullaly of Canterbury, who said she was “holding Pope Leo XIV in my prayers over these coming days, asking for God’s protection, closeness and care.”
“With Christians across the country and around the world, I pray for the Pope’s swift recovery,” the head of the Church of England wrote on X.
Viktor Eichner, the World Jewish Congress’ representative to the Holy See, also posted on X, writing: “On behalf of the World Jewish Congress, I wish Pope Leo XIV a successful surgery and a speedy recovery. May he return to full strength soon.”
– Questions about the Latin America upcoming trip –
The surgery announcement came as Pope Leo prepares to embark on his longest international trip to date: a 12-day apostolic visit to Latin America, including stops in Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru.
At the Angelus, the Pope greeted a group of Peruvian pilgrims and thanked them for praying for his upcoming visit, indicating the trip was still moving forward.
At a press conference in Uruguay, the first stop in the Pope’s Nov. 6-17 apostolic trip, Cardinal Daniel Sturla of Montevideo told journalists Oct. 11 that although the announcement “was a surprise,” the Pope’s greetings to the Peruvian pilgrims showed that “the plans remain the same.”
“Obviously, we are all praying for the Pope’s health and trust that everything will go well, that he will recover and be able to be here on the scheduled date,” Cardinal Sturla said.
When asked if any precautions will be taken given that the Pope is expected to arrive in less than a month, the Uruguayan cardinal said he believed so and that the Pope “always travels accompanied by his personal physician and other healthcare staff.”
“I understand that some care will need to be taken,” Cardinal Sturla said. “We will be instructed in the coming days. We will be very attentive to that, but confident that everything will go well and that we are moving forward.”
– Argentina praying for the Pope –
Argentine President Javier Milei extended his “affection and best wishes” ahead of the Pope’s surgery. Pope Leo will visit Argentina Nov. 8-11.
“All of Argentina accompanies His Holiness with affection and prayer, wishing him a prompt and full recovery,” Milei wrote on X. “From our country, we join in prayer for his health, in the hope that he may soon continue guiding the Church with his characteristic wisdom and strength.”
The Argentine bishops’ conference issued a statement calling on the country’s Catholics to pray for Pope Leo ahead of his surgery.
“We ask the Lord to grant him strength and peace at this time, that the surgery proceeds favorably, and that he may achieve a prompt and full recovery,” the bishops wrote.
Noting the Pope’s “serenity and confidence” in his announcement, the bishops urged Catholics to “remain spiritually united with him.”
– Peru in hopes of ‘soon having him among us’ –
In Peru, where Pope Leo is scheduled to visit Nov. 11-17, President Keiko Fujimori took to X to express her and her country’s “profound affection and solidarity” with the Pope “in the face of this health issue, which we hope he will overcome fully and successfully.”
“Our hearts and our prayers are with him, in the hope of soon having him among us,” Fujimori wrote. “With deep faith and hope, we pray that the Holy Father has a prompt recovery and may continue guiding, with wisdom and strength, the path of faith of the entire Holy Church.”
In a statement released shortly after the Pope’s announcement, Bishop Carlos Enrique García Camader of Lurin, president of the Peruvian bishops’ conference, noted the Pope’s “profound serenity and transparency” in announcing his surgery and that his “testimony of fortitude and humility in sharing this news moves us and immediately calls us to unity in prayer.”
“The Peruvian Episcopate invites all Catholic people and people of goodwill to unite in prayer for the health of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, raising our supplications to God, Lord of life and source of all health, so that He may strengthen him and grant him the health required for the fulfillment of his mission,” Bishop García wrote.
He also invoked Mary’s intercession “so that in the fullness of his strength he may continue fulfilling his mission in service to the Church and all humanity, continuing to be a messenger of peace and hope, and a witness of unity, fraternity, and encounter among all peoples.”
Junno Arocho Esteves is an international correspondent for OSV News. Follow him on X @jae_journalist.
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