Vatican City • Pope Leo XIV was diagnosed with lung cancer Tuesday, and a lower lobe of his right lung was removed during surgery, the Vatican said in a statement.
It said an examination of a nodule during the operation had confirmed a diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma. It said cancer had been “suspected by preoperative tests.”
The surgery itself lasted approximately 90 minutes, and the 71-year-old pope was in the operating room for about three hours. “The surgery was successful,” the statement said, “and there were no complications.”
The statement did not say whether the pope would undergo further treatment. A Vatican spokesperson said that the statement spoke for itself.
Lung adenocarcinoma is a common form of lung cancer. Survival rates for it vary greatly depending on the stage of the cancer and a patient’s overall health.
The information released about Leo thus far seems to indicate he has early-stage lung cancer, which is typically treated with surgery and tends to have a high survival rate, said Dr. Sudish Murthy, a thoracic surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic.
The surgery was performed at a hospital in Rome, the Policlinico A. Gemelli. The Vatican had said previously that Leo was expected to spend about a week recovering in the hospital after the surgery and that all audiences with him would be canceled until Oct. 20.
The cancer diagnosis came about a year and a half into Leo’s papacy. The first American pope, he was elected to lead the Roman Catholic Church in May 2025.
The pope announced during his weekly blessing and prayer in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday that doctors had advised surgical intervention after detecting a “very early-stage and well-localized” nodule during recent medical tests.
He said he still planned to travel to South America next month, and a Vatican spokesperson said those plans had not changed. The pope was aware of his condition when he spoke Sunday, the spokesperson said.
A Vatican spokesperson said that postoperative and histological tests would be carried out in the coming days.
Note to readers • This article originally appeared in The New York Times.