During his weekly Sunday prayers in St Peter’s Square, Pope Leo XIV announced that doctors had found an early, well‑localized nodule on his lung and that he would be operated on in the coming days. The 71‑year‑old pontiff said the mass was “well‑contained” and caught “at an early stage,” and that his medical team believed intervention was the right course of action.
Holy See Press Office spokesman Matteo Bruni confirmed that the operation is scheduled for the first days of next week and that the Pope is expected to recover in about a week. The surgery will take place at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, which houses a special Papal suite that remains in use following the 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, President Sergio Mattarella and Israeli President Isaac Herzog all expressed solidarity and wished the pontiff a speedy recovery. Pope Leo, born Robert Francis Provost, the first U.S. citizen to occupy the papal throne, has confirmed that his planned visit to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru in November will proceed as scheduled.
