Pope Leo XIV will enter hospital on Tuesday morning for an operation to remove a lump from his lung, the Vatican has said.
The Pope Leo hospital stay will be his first since he became head of the 1.4 billion Catholics on May 8, 2025.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told AFP on Monday that the 71-year-old pontiff would be admitted on Tuesday, late morning. Recovery could take about a week.
The operation is expected to hold at Gemelli Hospital in Rome, which has a dedicated papal suite.
The suite sits on the top floor and is reached through a long corridor guarded by Italian and Vatican police.
Besides the Pope’s room, it reportedly has a meeting room for medical staff, a kitchen, a bathroom, rest areas and a small chapel.
Gemelli is where popes are usually treated. Pope Francis spent weeks there before his death last year. John Paul II, who led the Church from 1978 until 2005, was treated there nine times.
Leo announced the plan on Sunday after the Angelus prayer in St Peter’s Square.
He said doctors found the nodule at a very early stage during recent medical checks.
“The doctors believe it would be right to intervene and so, following their advice, I have decided to have the operation to remove it,” he said.
A pulmonary nodule is a small growth of tissue in the lung. Most are benign, although a small percentage can be an early stage of lung cancer.
In most cases, they cause no symptoms and are found during checks for other health issues.
Larger ones can cause shortness of breath, chest pain and a persistent cough, sometimes with blood.
Surgeons normally carry out the operation under general anaesthetic, with the patient breathing through a tube.
Leo, who was born in Chicago, is the first American pope.
He is believed to be in good health and enjoys sports, especially tennis.
He is expected to recover in time for an 11-day trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from November 6 to 17.
