Who are the doctors responsible for treating Pope Leo XIV?

According to the medical report, the surgery lasted around 90 minutes, was completed successfully and had no complications. Leo XIV woke up normally and returned to the hospital room, where he recovered.

According to the Associated Press news agency, doctors had to apply general anesthesia and performed a biopsy on the lesion after removal.

The AP stated that the surgery began after health professionals, Stefano Margaritora and Luigi Carbone, prayed the rosary in the hospital chapel.

Stefano Margaritora is director of the Thoracic Surgery Unit at the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic Foundation, in Rome, and full professor of Thoracic Surgery at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart. He was responsible for the surgery to remove the nodule in Pope Leo XIV's right lung.

Graduated in Medicine from the Catholic University of Rome in 1985, Margaritora completed a residency in general surgery at the State University of Rome, between 1985 and 1990, and in thoracic surgery at the Catholic University of Rome, from 1990 to 1995.

His specialty is the diagnosis and surgical treatment of diseases that affect organs and structures of the chest, such as the lungs, esophagus and mediastinum. The doctor performs procedures to treat lung cancer, pulmonary nodules, emphysema and bronchiectasis, among other conditions.

The unit he heads specializes in minimally invasive techniques, such as video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS), as well as uniportal and robotic procedures.

Luigi Carbone is the doctor who coordinates the team responsible for the health of Pope Leo XIV. Although he has not been formally appointed personal physician to the pontiff, he accompanies the pope on a daily basis, travels with him and coordinates medical care during his stay at the Agostino Gemelli Hospital in Rome.

A doctor at the hospital itself, Carbone specializes in emergency and emergency medicine. In June 2025, Leo XIV appointed him head of the Vatican's Department of Health and Hygiene, a role in which he had already served as deputy director for years.

Carbone gained public prominence during Pope Francis' health problems, when he provided information about the Argentine pontiff's clinical condition alongside Massimiliano Strappetti, Jorge Bergoglio's trusted nurse.

The doctor also accompanies Leo XIV on international trips. At the end of September, for example, he was part of the team that traveled with the Pope to France, taking equipment for examinations and emergency interventions.

In the case of Leo XIV's hospitalization, Carbone coordinated the pontiff's medical care, while Margaritora is the surgeon responsible for removing the pulmonary nodule.