ROME (OSV News) – Pope Leo XIV has been diagnosed with lung cancer following a 90-minute surgery on Oct. 13 during which surgeons removed the lower lobe of the pope’s right lung.
Dr. Stefano Margaritora, chief thoracic surgeon at Rome’'s Gemelli Hospital, led a medical team in the video-assisted technique operation. In a joint statement with Dr. Luigi Carbone released at just before 10 p.m., the doctors said that the “examination confirmed the diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, as suspected by the preoperative tests.”
“The Holy Father was in the operating room for about 3 hours; the surgery itself lasted approximately 90 minutes,” the statement said. “After the surgery, the pope woke up as expected and, following a brief period of observation, returned to his room on the 10th floor.”
The pope underwent the surgery in the late afternoon after being admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital at 1 p.m.
“The surgery was successful, completed on schedule and as planned, and the Holy Father has returned to his room,” the Holy See Press Office said in a statement issued shortly before 8 p.m.
Pope Leo was expected to remain for one week of recovery in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, located atop Monte Mario, the highest hill in Rome. The Vatican has canceled all of the pope’s scheduled audiences through Oct. 20.
The hospital’s chapel was overflowing with people on Tuesday evening as Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the vicar general of the Diocese of Rome, led a rosary for the pope’s healing as people anxiously awaited the results of the pope’s operation.
Among those who came to pray was Sister Alphonsa Manikkathan from India’s state of Kerala and her fellow sisters from the Daughters of Divine Providence whose residence is located near the hospital.
“We pray for the pope every day, not only today,” Sister Alphonsa told OSV News. “Jesus said wherever two or more are gathered and pray for something, he will give. So for his fast recovery, we are praying.”
Father Miguel Silvestre Bengoa from Spain also joined in the rosary at the hospital. “If the pope is suffering, we also suffer with him,” he said. “But we want also to see him again in the Vatican.”
“We entrust the health of the pope to the hands of Our Lady,” the priest said.
Pope Leo’s operation took place just days after he first revealed to the world that he needed surgery at the end of his Angelus address in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 11.
Speaking from the window of the Apostolic Palace, the pope announced that doctors had discovered a nodule in his lung during a medical examination, adding that the growth was detected “at a very early stage” and it was “well-contained.”
“The doctors believe intervention is advisable, so, following their advice, I have decided to undergo surgery to have it removed,” Pope Leo said.
Since the pope’s announcement, prayers and messages of support have poured in from around the globe from prime ministers, presidents, religious leaders and Catholic bishops.
This was the second hospitalization in the 71-year-old pope's life, according to a recently published biography. Shortly after his election, Pope Leo said that he had only been hospitalized once in his life before becoming pope when he caught typhoid fever after recently arriving as an Augustinian missionary in Peru in 1985.
Pope Leo’s surgery occurred less than one month before he is scheduled to depart for South America for what would be the longest international trip of his pontificate Nov. 6 to 17, with stops in Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. The Vatican has not yet announced any changes to the trip.
Cardinal Isao Kikuchi, archbishop of Tokyo, who met Pope Leo for a private audience the day before the surgery, wrote in a social media post that the pope had told him on Oct. 12 that he wanted to have the operation as soon as possible to give himself time to recover before the trip to Latin America.
"He assured me that this is a minor operation and he feels nothing wrong with his body, and he said he had decided to go for the operation as soon as possible not to change his plan of Latin America visit," Cardinal Kikuchi said. "We have to keep Holy Father in our prayers."
