Pope Leo XIV, 71, to Undergo Lung Surgery This Week After Nodule Found at Very Early Stage
Pope Leo XIV announced Sunday that he will undergo surgery this week to remove a small nodule from one of his lungs, in the first known health crisis of his pontificate. The 71-year-old pontiff disclosed the finding himself at the end of his Sunday Angelus address in St. Peter's Square.
Recently, during some medical examinations, doctors found a well-defined nodule in one of my lungs, the pope told pilgrims. It was detected at a very early stage and is well localized. The doctors believe it is advisable to operate. I have decided to undergo surgery to remove it, following their advice. He said the operation has already been scheduled for the coming days and asked the faithful for their prayers, thanking them for their spiritual closeness.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the surgery is set for the first few days of this week at Rome's Gemelli Hospital, the facility that has long treated popes, where John Paul II had a benign colon tumor removed in 1992 and where Francis was treated in 2021 and 2023, and that the expected post-operative hospital stay is about one week. The hospitalization will force the pope to cancel engagements in the coming days, including the closing Mass on Wednesday, Oct. 14, of a Vatican meeting on the family marking the 10th anniversary of Amoris Laetitia. His planned Nov. 6-17 trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, his longest to date and a return to Peru, where he spent about 20 years as a missionary and then bishop of Chiclayo, is still expected to go ahead. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the calm with which the pope spoke was reassuring and that Italians would offer him their support.
Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago, became the first U.S.-born pope when cardinals elected him in May 2025 after the death of Pope Francis. He has had no known previous health problems and is known to be physically active, playing weekly tennis and swimming at the papal summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo, NPR reported.
(Sources: Reuters, AP, NPR, The Times, Vatican News, Oct. 11)
Source: 路透社、美联社
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 教宗利奥十四世本人，Edgar Beltrán / The Pillar 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0（Wikimedia Commons）
