Pope announces lung nodule discovery

Pope Leo XIV, seventy-one, said on Sunday that doctors found a circumscribed nodule in his lung during recent check-ups. The nodule was found in a very initial phase and well localized.

“Recently during some check ups doctors found a circumscribed nodule in my lung.”

Surgery scheduled for early this week

The Vatican press office said the procedure is scheduled for early this week at Rome's Gemelli Hospital, the primary medical facility commonly used by popes. The expected postoperative hospital stay is about one week.

Leo is first American pope

Pope Leo XIV, a Chicago native and the first American pope, was previously Cardinal Robert Prevost. He was elected the church's two hundred sixty-seventh pontiff in May two thousand twenty-five.

Pope plans to continue South American trip

Before announcing the surgery, Pope Leo thanked a Peruvian Catholic group for prayers for his apostolic visit to Peru. He is officially scheduled to travel to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru between November sixth and seventeenth.

Italian PM expresses solidarity with pontiff

Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, said in a statement that she and her government were expressing solidarity with Pope Leo as he faces the ordeal ahead.

“The serenity and calm with which he spoke about it during today's Angelus are a source of comfort to us.”