Pope Leo XIV told thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday that doctors have found a growth on his lung and that he will have surgery to remove it within days.
The 71-year-old pope broke the news himself, at the end of his weekly Angelus prayer. “Doctors found a small lump in the lung,” he said.
He was quick to add the reassuring part. “It was detected at a very early stage and is well localised,” he told the crowd. His doctors advised taking it out, and he agreed. The operation is already on the calendar.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the pope will be admitted in the first days of this week and is expected to stay in the hospital for about a week. He is expected to be treated at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, which keeps a special apartment for popes.
What the Vatican has not said is whether the growth is cancerous. Leo described it as a nodule found during recent checkups, and no other details about the diagnosis have been released. Most lung nodules turn out to be benign, though some are not.
The news came as a surprise. Leo, the first American pope, has no known history of health problems and is known for staying active. He plays tennis every week and swims at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo.
It also raises a question about his schedule. Leo is due to travel to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from November 7 to 16, less than a month away. The Vatican did not say whether the trip will go ahead, but the pope did ask the crowd on Sunday to pray for his visit to Peru in particular. He spent years there as a missionary and bishop before coming to Rome.
