Pope Leo XIV has lung cancer, the Vatican said on Tuesday evening, after surgeons in Rome removed the lower lobe of his right lung. The Holy See Press Office said a histological examination carried out during the operation confirmed lung adenocarcinoma, the diagnosis that pre-operative tests had pointed to.
"The operation was successful and there were no complications," the release said. Leo, who is 71, woke normally from anaesthesia, was briefly observed and was taken back to his room at the Policlinico A. Gemelli, according to the bulletin.
Adenocarcinoma is a type of non-small cell lung cancer, the Associated Press noted. The Vatican has not said whether the pope will need treatment beyond surgery.
What the bulletin says
The release, attributed to Dr Luigi Carbone and Professor Stefano Margaritora, says the lobe was removed in the afternoon using a video-assisted technique, a form of keyhole surgery done through small incisions. The operation itself lasted about ninety minutes. The pope spent about three hours in the operating theatre.
Margaritora led the surgical team, with Professor Elisa Meacci, Dr Maria Teresa Congedo and Dr Leonardo Petracca Caravella. Professor Massimo Antonelli led the anaesthesia team with Dr Giovanni Punzo and Dr Giuseppe Bello.
The bulletin is just as notable for what it leaves out. It does not give a stage for the cancer. It does not say whether lymph nodes were removed, a gap The New York Times also noted. It does not mention chemotherapy or any other follow-up treatment. EWTN News reported that further postoperative tests, including histology, are expected in the coming days and that doctors had not discussed chemotherapy or similar treatment at this stage. The New York Times also reported that more tests would follow.
Two days from announcement to operation
Leo, the first American pope, elected in May 2025, disclosed the problem himself at the Angelus on Sunday 11 October. Speaking in Italian, he told pilgrims that doctors had found "a circumscribed nodule" in his lung that "was detected at a very early stage and is well-localized," the AP reported. He said he had decided, on their advice, to have it removed, and asked for prayers.
On Monday the Vatican cancelled all his audiences through 20 October. He was admitted to Gemelli on Tuesday and operated on that afternoon. The Vatican has said he should spend about a week recovering in hospital. The papal suite on Gemelli's tenth floor is being renovated, the AP reported, so he is staying in a nearby room on the same floor; the bulletin says he returned to his room on the tenth floor after surgery.
Less than three weeks after his audiences are due to resume, Leo is scheduled to leave on a 6-17 November trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, which the AP described as the longest of his papacy so far. He said on Sunday that he still planned to go.
Who stands in
The immediate effect is on this week's calendar. Before the operation, Vatican officials had suggested Leo might miss Wednesday's Mass closing a meeting on family ministry held for the tenth anniversary of Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis's 2016 document on marriage and the family. The New York Times reported that Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle will preside instead.
Tagle, 69, became dean of the College of Cardinals last week, when Leo approved his election to succeed Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, 92, Reuters reported. He is the first Asian to hold the post.
What doctors outside the Vatican say
Beyond the bulletin, we found no public comment from the pope's own doctors by Tuesday evening. Specialists not involved in his care have only the Vatican's description to go on. "You can heal from a lung tumor," Dr Lorenzo Spaggiari, a thoracic surgeon at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, told The New York Times.
What the diagnosis means for Leo will depend on test results the Vatican has not yet released, and the bulletin gave no timetable for them. Until then, the press office's bulletins are the only official account of his condition.
The details of the operation, the diagnosis, the length of the procedure, the names of the surgical and anaesthesia teams, the absence of complications and the pope's return to his room on the tenth floor come from the Holy See Press Office release of 13 October 2026, attributed to Dr Luigi Carbone and Professor Stefano Margaritora. The pope's words at the Angelus on 11 October, the expected recovery of about a week, the cancellation of audiences through 20 October, the dates of the South American trip, the description of adenocarcinoma as a type of non-small cell lung cancer and the renovation of the papal suite at Gemelli come from the Associated Press, including as carried by NBC News. That further postoperative tests are expected in the coming days and that doctors had not discussed chemotherapy or similar treatment come from EWTN News's live coverage; The New York Times also reported that further tests would follow and that the bulletin did not say whether lymph nodes were removed. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle's approval as dean of the College of Cardinals, and the ages of Tagle and Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, come from Reuters (9 October). That Tagle will preside at Wednesday's closing Mass, and Dr Lorenzo Spaggiari's remark, come from The New York Times (13 October). This story makes no assessment of the pope's prognosis.
