Pope Leo XIV to undergo lung surgery at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital

What the Vatican said

Pope Leo XIV will be admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital “late in the morning” on Tuesday, October 13, for surgery to remove what Vatican News called a “small, localized lung nodule.”

The Pope shared the news himself at the Angelus on Sunday, October 11. He said the nodule had been found during recent medical examinations, and “at an early stage,” as the National Catholic Reporter quoted him. On Monday, Matteo Bruni, Director of the Holy See Press Office, told journalists that the examinations had been routine checks. Bruni also confirmed that the Pope is expected to stay in the hospital for about a week after surgery, as had been said on Sunday.

Popes are usually treated at Gemelli, NCR notes. It also cites the American Cancer Society: a lung nodule is a small abnormal area, less than an inch across, that appears on a CT scan, and most lung nodules are not cancerous. The Vatican has given no further medical details.

A full Monday, then changes

Pope Leo held all his scheduled audiences on Monday morning. Vatican News reports that he has received messages of support from Churches and political leaders on all five continents.

He will not, however, attend the afternoon session in the Paul VI Hall of the meeting marking ten years since Amoris laetitia, the 2016 apostolic exhortation on love in the family. Nor will he preside at the closing Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, October 14. Its participants include heads of Eastern Churches, presidents of bishops’ conferences, married couples and experts.

The Pope has asked Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle to celebrate the Mass in his place. Cardinal Tagle is Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization and the new Dean of the College of Cardinals. “During the Mass, we will pray especially for the Holy Father’s health, as well as for families,” said Jesuit Fr. Giacomo Costa, a consultor to the General Secretariat of the Synod, who oversees the meeting’s method.

A Pope who wants to listen first

The surgery also changes plans for the meeting’s final report. Fr. Costa explained that the Pope had wanted to hear what the participants concluded and to respond with his own reflections. So he asked that the report not be published at the close of the meeting as planned. After he leaves the hospital, he intends to go back to the document and the meeting’s other materials before offering his own word.

“I think this desire of his to listen is beautiful,” Fr. Costa said.

“During the Mass, we will pray especially for the Holy Father’s health, as well as for families.”

Fr. Giacomo Costa, SJ · Holy See Press Office, Oct 12, 2026

An invitation to prayer

Christians of every tradition pray for the sick, and for those who shepherd the Church. St. James gives a simple instruction: “pray one for another, that ye may be healed” (James 5:16). This week, VRSZ invites its readers to do just that. Pray for Pope Leo, for his surgeons and doctors, and for a quick recovery. Pray, too, for the families the meeting was gathered to serve.

Read it for yourself

Open VRSZ, tap James 5:16, and read what the early Church said about prayer for the sick.