Pope Leo XIV announced that doctors found a small, localised lung nodule during a recent check and recommended surgery in the coming days. The Vatican expects about a week of recovery. The 71-year-old pontiff has a November visit to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru planned, with the effect of surgery on that itinerary still uncertain.
Pope Leo XIV announced during his Sunday blessing at the Vatican that doctors had found a small lung nodule during a recent examination. The 71-year-old leader of the Roman Catholic Church described it as detected very early and confined to a small area. He said he would follow the doctors’ recommendation to have it removed in the coming days.[1], [2]
The Vatican said recovery was expected to take about one week. It did not say the nodule was thought to be malignant. A lung nodule is a small, localised lesion that can be benign. Stephen Liu, a lung cancer specialist at Georgetown University, said such nodules were fairly common and often benign.[1]
Leo has no previously known health problems and is physically active, playing tennis weekly and swimming at Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer retreat in Italy.[1]
Leo is due to visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from 6 to 17 November. Whether surgery and recovery will affect the itinerary remains uncertain; he said earlier in his Sunday remarks that he intended to go. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed personal support and that of her government. She described the pope’s calm delivery of the announcement as reassuring.[1]
