Pope Leo XIV spent a calm night in the hospital after successful surgery that saw part of his right lung removed and a confirmed cancer diagnosis, the Vatican said early Wednesday. It said more information would follow later in the day. The 71-year-old American pontiff was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, a type of non-small cell lung cancer which accounts for 80% of all cases, according to the American Lung Association.
The 90-minute operation to remove a malignant lung nodule was completed “successfully, on schedule and as planned,” the Vatican said Tuesday. Leo was in the operating theatre for nearly three hours, it said. The Vatican did not offer details on planned treatment moving forward or whether the cancer might have spread.
The initial lump was detected during a routine check, the Vatican has said. The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics took the rare step of revealing the health issue — the first of his papacy — during his Sunday noon prayer. Leo waved to crowds outside Rome’s Gemelli hospital as he entered on Tuesday.
The procedure was led by Dr. Stefano Margaritora, Gemelli’s chief thoracic surgeon, with medical staff reciting the rosary prayer in the hospital chapel as the operation began. The surgery saw the lower lobe of the pope’s right lung removed using a “video-assisted technique,” according to the Vatican.
Following his surgery, the pontiff “woke up normally and, after a brief period of observation, returned to his room on the tenth floor,” the Vatican said. The room is next to the usual papal apartment, complete with private chapel, which is currently undergoing renovations. The pope’s cancer affects both smokers and nonsmokers, although he is not known to ever have been a smoker.
The cancer diagnosis could complicate the pontiff’s busy schedule. Just weeks earlier hundreds of thousands of people packed the streets of Paris for an outdoor mass on a visit that saw Leo warn about the risks of artificial intelligence. The pope was planning to take a historic two-week visit to South America next month, although it is unclear if that will still go ahead.
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