Pope Leo XIV has announced that he will undergo surgery in the coming days after doctors found a nodule on his lung. The Pope Leo surgery follows a medical check-up.
The 71-year-old pontiff disclosed this on Sunday during his weekly Angelus prayer at St Peter’s Square in Rome.
“The doctors found an early, well-localised nodule on my lung,” he told the gathering.
He said his medical team believed it was right to intervene, and he agreed to the procedure.
However, he assured pilgrims that the growth was well-contained and had been caught at an early stage.
He ended the prayer by thanking the faithful for their spiritual closeness.
He also asked them to keep him in their prayers.
The spokesman of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, said the operation would hold in the first days of next week.
He added that the Pope should need about a week to recover.
Vatican News reported that the surgery would take place at Gemelli Hospital in Rome.
The hospital built a special papal suite after the failed assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in May 1981. The suite remains in use today.
Who is Pope Leo XIV?
Born Robert Francis Prevost, Pope Leo succeeded Pope Francis in 2025. He is the 267th occupant of the throne of St Peter and the first American to hold the office.
He was ordained in 1982 and spent years as a missionary in Peru.
There, he is remembered for working with marginalised communities and building bridges.
