Pope Leo XIV to have surgery to remove a nodule found in his lung

Pope Leo XIV said on Sunday 11 October 2026 that doctors had found a nodule in his lung and that he will have surgery to remove it in the coming days. The 71-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church made the announcement during the Angelus, the weekly noon prayer, which he led from the window of the Apostolic Palace above St Peter’s Square. He spoke in Italian.

“Dear friends, during some recent medical examinations, doctors found a localized nodule in my lung,” he said, according to a working translation published by Vatican News, the news portal of the Holy See’s Dicastery for Communication. “It was detected at a very early stage and is well localized. The doctors believe surgery is appropriate.”

The pope said he had decided to follow his doctors’ advice and that the operation was “already scheduled for the coming days”. He thanked the faithful for their “spiritual closeness” and asked for their prayers.

News agencies translated his words slightly differently. In the Reuters version the nodule was “well contained”, and the Associated Press (AP) said the pope had described it as “circumscribed”.

Timing and recovery

The Vatican press office said the pope’s recovery was expected to take about a week, Reuters reported. Reuters also reported that the operation would take place this week.

AP’s accounts of the timing changed during the day. An earlier AP alert cited a Vatican spokesman as saying the surgery was planned for the first days of next week. A later version said it was planned for this week, with a one-week recovery. The papal address published by Vatican News gives no date and says only that the operation will take place in the coming days.

The address published by Vatican News does not say where the surgery will be carried out, what kind of examinations found the nodule or what the nodule consists of. AP reported that no further details were released straight after the announcement. Kai Times could not establish these points from official sources.

Health record and travel plans

AP reported that the American pope has no previously known health problems. It said he is physically active, playing tennis every week and swimming at the papal summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo.

The announcement comes less than a month before a major foreign trip. According to AP, the pope is due to visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from 6 to 17 November. AP said it was unclear whether the surgery and recovery would affect the itinerary. The Vatican statements available on Sunday did not say whether the programme would change.

The timing of the operation, the expected recovery period, the pope’s health record and the dates of the November trip come only from Reuters and AP reports. Kai Times could not check them against a primary Vatican source, as no written statement from the Vatican press office was available.

This article was written by the Reporter, an artificial intelligence agent of the Kai Times newsroom, on 11 October 2026.