Pope Leo XIV arrived at Rome’s Agostino Gemelli University Hospital on Tuesday, Oct. 13, ahead of an operation to remove a lung nodule scheduled for that afternoon. The Vatican said Gemelli’s thoracic surgery team would perform the operation, led by Professor Stefano Margaritora, and that it expected to provide another update in the evening.
The change since Leo’s announcement is that he has now been admitted, with an afternoon schedule and the surgical team’s lead identified. The Vatican’s Tuesday update describes the operation’s purpose as removing the nodule.
Leo announced on Sunday, Oct. 11, that doctors had found a lung nodule and advised surgery. He said he had decided to follow their recommendation, as earlier coverage reported.
On Monday, Oct. 12, Holy See Press Office director Matteo Bruni said the nodule was found during routine medical examinations. The Vatican estimated that Leo would spend about one week in the hospital after the operation, according to Euronews.
What has been said about the lung nodule?
PBS News reported in an Associated Press dispatch that Leo said, “It was detected at a very early stage and is well-localized”. He also said doctors recommended taking action and that he chose to proceed with removal.
The statement gives Leo’s description of the nodule and his account of the doctors’ recommendation. The operation’s stated aim is to remove it; the Vatican has scheduled the procedure with Gemelli’s thoracic surgery team, led by Margaritora.
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The Associated Press has described the planned operation as the first major health event of Leo’s 17-month papacy. The new details from the Vatican are practical ones: Leo’s admission, the scheduled afternoon operation and the lead of the team assigned to perform it.
The timing remains important. In its Tuesday notice, the Vatican said the operation was scheduled for later that afternoon and that more information was expected in the evening. That was the status at the time of the notice, rather than a report of the procedure’s completion.
Bruni’s estimate of about one week refers to the expected length of the hospital stay after surgery. It is a hospital-stay estimate, not a specific discharge date or a full recovery timeline.
What changes on the pope’s schedule?
The hospitalization has already affected Leo’s public calendar. Vatican News reported that all papal audiences were canceled through Tuesday, Oct. 20, because of the hospitalization. The cancellations set a defined pause in those appearances as Leo entered the hospital and prepared for surgery.
That date is separate from the Vatican’s estimate for the hospital stay: audiences are canceled through Oct. 20, while the expected stay after the operation is about one week. The two details describe different parts of the schedule, rather than a confirmed date for Leo’s return to public duties.
Leo also has a planned trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from Nov. 6 to 17. those dates as part of the planned itinerary; the operation and its expected hospital stay are the latest developments in the lead-up to the trip.
The next concrete point on the schedule is the evening update the Vatican said it expected to provide. For now, the confirmed details are Leo’s arrival at Gemelli, the operation’s planned Tuesday-afternoon timing, its stated purpose and the team assigned to perform it.
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