Pope Leo, 71, Has Been Diagnosed With Cancer
Pope Leo XIV was diagnosed with pulmonary adenocarcinoma, a form of lung cancer, after he underwent surgery in Rome on Tuesday.
“The Holy Father was in the operating room for approximately three hours; the operation itself lasted about 90 minutes,” the Vatican said in a statement. “The operation was successful, and there were no complications.”
The surgery at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital reportedly involved removing both the cancerous growth and the lower lobe of Pope Leo XIV’s right lung.
“To ensure a radical resection, the lower lobe of his right lung was removed using a video-assisted technique,” the Vatican’s statement continued. “An intraoperative histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, as suspected from the preoperative examinations.”
Pope Leo XIV underwent thoracic surgery at Gemelli Hospital on Tuesday afternoon, as planned, according to a statement from Dr. Luigi Carbone and Professor Stefano Margaritora released by the Holy See Press Office.
The surgeons removed the lower lobe of the Pope’s right lung…
— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) October 13, 2026
It was only after the surgery was completed that the pulmonary adenocarcinoma diagnosis was revealed. This is fairly normal in cancer cases.
While doctors usually suspect cancer beforehand based on imaging like CT scans or PET scans, those scans only show a shadow or a mass — they cannot see cells. A definitive diagnosis requires a pathology report, which happens after the tissue is out of the body.
According to another statement from the Vatican released Wednesday morning, Pope Leo subsequently had a “calm” evening at Gemelli Hospital.
“The night passed calmly for the Pope,” the Vatican explained in its latest statement. “Further information will be provided today.”
As of around 7:30 am Wednesday, no new details had been announced.
Pope Leo XIV’s first night in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital was calm. Further information is expected later in the day. https://t.co/5dxih9kI4g
— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) October 14, 2026
The type of lung cancer afflicting the Pope “is a type of non-small cell lung cancer, which tends to grow more slowly than other kinds of lung cancer,” NBC News reported, citing information from the American Lung Association.
Adenocarcinoma affects non-smokers and smokers alike, though the current Pope has reportedly never been a smoker.
New York City Archbishop Ronald Hicks issued a statement after the Pope’s surgery, thanking God for its success.
“We thank God that the surgery on Pope Leo was, by all accounts, successful, and that he continues his recovery and recuperation,” Hicks said. “I know that I join with people from all corners of this archdiocese, across the country, and around the world in keeping the Holy Father in our prayers.”
According to NBC News, as the surgery got underway on Tuesday, medical staff at the facility “recited the rosary prayer in the hospital chapel.”
“Let us join together in prayer, asking the Lord to sustain our bishop, Pope Leo, and to comfort all those who are hospitalized here,” the vicar of Rome, Cardinal Baldassare Reina, said during the prayer.
Members of the faithful prayed the Rosary at Rome’s Gemelli hospital for the success of Pope Leo XIV’s operation. He underwent surgery on Tuesday afternoon to remove a “small, localized nodule” from his lung. https://t.co/1BaZmuDj0Q
— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) October 13, 2026
Despite the Pope’s age of 71, NBC News noted that his surgery on Tuesday marked “the second hospitalization for Leo.” He was previously hospitalized when he contracted typhoid fever after arriving in Peru in 1985.
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