The procedure lasted about 90 minutes and the Holy Father is now back in his hospital room in the Gemelli Clinic. The doctors initially gave no information about further therapy.
On Tuesday afternoon, Pope Leo Wearing a white doctor's coat, Andrea Cambieri, the clinic's medical director, picked up the Pope directly from his black limousine and accompanied him into the building. The Italian thoracic specialist Stefano Margaritora was scheduled to carry out the procedure on the same day.
The “Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli”, which is part of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, is the popes’ home clinic and many church leaders have been treated here. Unlike Pope Francis recently, Leo According to Il Messagero, a room was prepared for him on the same floor, but at the back of the clinic.
It is unusual for a pope to inform the public so aggressively about his health
On Sunday afternoon, during the Angelus prayer, Pope Leo unexpectedly announced from the window of his study in the Apostolic Palace that a lump had been found in his lung. This was “well localized” and was still “at a very early stage,” Leo said. Hardly anyone in the Vatican is said to have known about this announcement beforehand. It is extremely unusual for a pope to inform the public so aggressively about his health. Only John Paul II personally announced a short hospital stay in 1992, similar to Leo's now.
Other popes had always left it to their communications authorities to provide information on such questions. The statements often remained dry and only invited more speculation. When Pope Francis had to be hospitalized for weeks in February 2025, the seriousness of the situation only filtered through very slowly. At first there was only talk of routine examinations, then of bronchitis, and finally of severe, life-threatening pneumonia. There, too, hundreds of people stood in front of the Gemelli, praying and hoping. Francis never recovered from the exertions. He returned to the Vatican and even drove through St. Peter's Square in the Popemobile, but then died on Easter Monday 2025.
Leo XIV, on the other hand, is considered a comparatively young pope at 71 years old. When he was still a cardinal and head of the Vatican's episcopal authority, he went to the gym regularly. It was only after the conclave that his trainer found out which famous clients he had trained. Leo also enjoys playing tennis and is said to have arranged for a gym to be set up in his newly renovated apartment.
For days, doctors had been speaking in the Italian media, assuring that a lump in the lungs could have numerous causes and was not necessarily malignant.
Both of Robert Prevost's parents died of cancer, which is why his older brother is currently in the hospital
But people in the Vatican did not look at the famous patient in the Gemelli Clinic without concern: both of Pope Leo From there, the 74-year-old called for people to pray for his younger brother before the procedure, “so that this operation goes well and there are no further complications,” Corriere della Sera reported.
The rush also worried some. Apparently the doctors had insisted that the procedure be carried out as quickly as possible. That's why the Pope even canceled a very important appointment for him: he would actually have led the closing service for a worldwide meeting of bishops on questions of marriage and family on Wednesday. 120 chairmen of bishops' conferences around the world are currently in Rome and have been discussing for several days how to deal with the growing gap between Catholic teaching and the lived reality of families in 2026.
At the beginning of the meeting, Leo The expectations of Leo's words at the end of the deliberations were therefore high. You'll have to wait a bit for that now. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the pope would have to recover in the hospital for about a week after the procedure.
The papal calendar is actually well filled. At the beginning of November he was supposed to fly to South America for a trip lasting several days. Even before that, on October 27th, there is the world prayer meeting of religions in Assisi. 40 years ago, Pope John Paul II invited people to this interreligious meeting for the first time, at which representatives from all world religions are expected. The aim of the meeting then, as now, is to work together for peace in the world. This is a highly symbolic appointment, especially for the first US pope, who has repeatedly been under fire from Donald Trump's Maga government since the beginning of his pontificate. It is still unclear whether Pope Leo XIV will be able to attend these appointments.
