Luigi Carbone, the Pope's doctor, also alongside him on his travels

The general public had met him during Pope Francis' illness, when, at Gemelli, he provided information on the Pontiff's health in his last hospitalization in spring 2025, alongside Bergoglio's trusted nurse, Massimiliano Strappetti.

He is Dr. Luigi Carbone, appointed in June last year by Pope Leo XIV as head of the Directorate of Health and Hygiene of the Governorate of the Vatican City State; direction of which he was deputy director for years. Even if there was no ad hoc appointment as the Pope's personal doctor, it is Dr. Carbone who coordinates the team of doctors and nurses who look after Leone.

Once upon a time it was called 'archiatra', an ancient term which indicated the Pope's trusted doctor. Those were the years in which medical records were top secret and information on the Pope's health filtered in slowly. An era ago compared to today, with the announcement worldwide at the Angelus by the Pope, not only of an imminent surgery but also of the precise medical problem.

Carbone was Francis' doctor and now follows Leo XIV step by step. He was also on the papal plane at the end of September for the apostolic trip to France, together with a couple of nurses. The medical case with all the equipment for checks and emergency interventions also travels with him. Among other things, Dr. Carbone, a doctor at Gemelli, is an expert in emergency medicine and first aid.

The internal healthcare structure of the Vatican allows for not only visits but also in-depth diagnostic tests. In the past, surgical operations have even been performed in the pontifical apartment; the last one we know of was the one suffered by Paul VI almost sixty years ago. Since the time of Pope Wojtyla there has been a specific wing of the Gemelli Polyclinic, on the tenth floor, which is in fact the department reserved for Popes who need it and it is there that Leo XIV will be hospitalized. It's a kind of mini-apartment, also equipped with a chapel for praying. The doctors will also be present there for the necessary time, starting with Doctor Carbone, who normally follow the Pope, together with his nurses who, in collaboration with the specialists of the 'third Vatican', as Wojtyla jokingly called it, will take care of Prevost for a week, at least the expected hospitalization time.