Pope Leo 14 announces surgery to remove lung nodule in the coming days

Pope Leo the 14th announced this Sunday morning (11) that he has a nodule in his lung and that he will undergo surgery in the next few days. This is the first public health problem for the pope, who is 71 years old and has been in office for almost a year and a half.

"Recently, during some examinations, doctors found a circumscribed nodule in the lung, identified at a very early stage and well located. The doctors considered it opportune to intervene and, following their advice, I decided to undergo an operation to remove it," said the pope.

"The surgery is already scheduled for the next few days. I thank you for your spiritual closeness and I trust in your prayers," he said.

The statement was given at the end of the Angelus, a Sunday prayer that the pontiff gives, from the window of the Apostolic Palace, to the faithful present in Saint Peter's Square.

The Holy See's press office then announced that the surgery is scheduled for the beginning of the week and that the expected time for post-operative hospitalization is one week. The operation will take place at the Agostino Gemelli hospital in Rome, where an apartment on the tenth floor is prepared to receive the popes.

The trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, from November 6th to 17th, appears confirmed in the pope's agenda available to journalists. Leo 14 himself mentioned the commitment in the Angelus message, when greeting a group of Peruvian religious. "Thank you for your prayers for the pastoral visit that I am going to carry out in Peru", she said.

The Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, then commented on the announcement. "I wish to express my personal solidarity and that of the Italian government to the Holy Father for the ordeal he was called to face in the coming days", he wrote in a note.

"The serenity and calm with which he spoke about this at today's Angelus comforts us. I am sure that the Italian people will also offer their support and affection."

In Brazil, the CNBB (National Conference of Brazilian Bishops) published a message expressing its desire for the pope's health to recover. "We welcome your request for prayers and we join the bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated men and women and all the people of God in Brazil, begging the Lord to sustain him with his peace, enlighten the professionals responsible for his care and grant him a full recovery", says the statement.

Elected in May 2025, the American supreme pontiff had no known health problems. He often participates in sports and is considered a young leader of the Church.

His predecessor, Pope Francis, died in April 2025, aged 88. He accumulated a series of health problems, mainly respiratory. In the late 1950s, he had part of a lung removed while living in Argentina.