Pope Leo in Rome hospital for lung operation

Pope Leo XIV waves from the window of the car as he leaves the Vatican before being admitted to Rome's Gemelli University Hospital for an operation to remove a lump from his lung, in the Vatican on 13 October 2026. [AFP]

Pope Leo XIV entered a Rome hospital smiling and waving Tuesday ahead of surgery to remove a nodule on his lung.

The Vatican said the operation to remove a pulmonary nodule, a small growth of tissue in the lung, would be carried out on Tuesday afternoon. But there was no immediate confirmation that it had begun or ended.

The surgery marks the 71-year-old Leo's first hospitalisation since he became head of the Catholic Church on May 8, 2025. Vatican officials who saw the pope on Monday said he appeared relaxed about the hospital stay.

In a surprise announcement following Angelus prayers on Sunday, Leo told crowds in St Peter's Square that doctors had discovered the nodule "at a very early stage" during medical checks.

"The doctors believe it would be right to intervene," he said.

The Vatican has historically been very secretive about the health of popes, but began to be more transparent during the illness of Leo's predecessor Francis, an Argentine who freely discussed his ailments.

Leo waved to well-wishers as he left the Vatican by car and smiled and waved to crowds waiting at the Gemelli hospital, before walking into the hospital.

People outside the hospital expressed concern over the pope's condition.

Giorgia Fei, a 57-year-old Italian, said she had been worried by the news.

"However, the Holy Father is in very good hands here at the hospital because we have some outstanding doctors," she said.

"I will pray a lot for him."

Giuseppe Purpura, 72, said he was also concerned.

"He's still quite young and I really wasn't expecting this. I thought he was in better health," said the retiree, noting that "thankfully it was caught in time."

The Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome, Cardinal Baldassare Reina, led a rosary prayer for the pope inside the hospital chapel which was broadcast by the Vatican. Dozens of people attended and Reina asked all the city's parishes to join in.

The operation to remove the nodule will be performed by the Gemelli's thoracic surgery team, led by Stefano Margaritora, the Vatican said.

The pope's recovery time is expected to be about a week. His audiences have been cancelled until October 20.

The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, told ANSA news agency that Leo had been "very calm" about his condition when they met on Monday.

Gemelli hospital is where popes are usually treated.

They normally stay in a special suite on the 10th floor, which has a small chapel, kitchen, bathroom and meeting room. But that suite is under renovation, so Leo will stay in another on the same floor, under high security.

Routine health checks

Chicago-born Leo, the first US pope, is sporty and believed to generally be in good health.

He is scheduled to travel to South America from November 6-17 to visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru.

It was not immediately clear what would happen if the pope was forced into a longer recovery.

Under Church law, a figure known as the Cardinal Camerlengo -- or chamberlain -- takes over administrative duties if the pope dies, but pontiffs do not have a deputy to replace them if they become incapacitated.

Marco Scarci, a thoracic surgery expert in the UK, told AFP it was not "a particularly risky operation" and he expected Leo's recovery to be quick.

Most pulmonary nodules are benign, or non-cancerous, but a small percentage can be an early indication of lung cancer.

The Vatican told AFP the nodule was found during routine health checks, and there were no symptoms that led to checking the pope's lungs.

‘Coin lesion'

A small nodule is called a "coin lesion" because on X-rays it looks like a coin, Professor Federico Venuta, head of thoracic surgery at the Policlinico Umberto 1 hospital in Rome, told AFP.

Small nodules tend not to cause symptoms, but larger ones can cause shortness of breath, chest pain and persistent coughing -- sometimes with blood.

Such nodules "could be a whole range of benign lesions -- inflammatory, infectious, autoimmune, or congenital -- or they could be malignant," Venuta said.

Removing the nodule can take place under general anaesthetic with the patient breathing through a tube.

Even if the nodule was not benign, the pope's outlook would be "very positive", Venuta said.

"For a generally healthy person, the prognosis for lung cancer caught at such an early stage -- specifically a pulmonary nodule with no distant spread -- is absolutely favourable," he said.