Pope Leo Diagnosed with Lung Cancer After Successful Surgery Removes Right Lower Lobe

The Vatican confirmed that Pope Leo XIV has lung cancer after a successful surgery removed the lower lobe of his right lung.

The Vatican said in a medical bulletin that the tests confirmed a diagnosis of adenocarcinoma, adding that preoperative tests hinted at the presence of cancer that surgery confirmed, per CBS News. Pope Leo spent three hours in the operating room and the surgery lasted roughly 90 minutes before he was cleared.

“The surgery was successful, and there were no complications,” the statement said. “To ensure a radical resection, the lower lobe of the right lung was removed using a video-assisted technique. Intraoperative histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of pulmonary adenocarcinoma, as suspected from pre-operative tests.”

The Vatican did not disclose the cancer’s stage and whether it had spread.

“The Vatican tends to keep these things under wraps, so there’ll be a lot of reading between the lines to try and detect what is the state of the pope’s health,” Candida Moss, the Edward Cadbury professor of theology at the University of Birmingham in England, told CBS News.

“We should also expect that, inasmuch as is possible, Pope Leo is going to continue to work,” she added. “We have a long tradition of popes — not just Pope Francis, but also Pope John Paul II, who had Parkinson’s for 10 years — who continued to remain as active as they could, and as active in Catholic liturgies as they could, right up until the end of their tenures.”

According NBC News, medical staff prayed the rosary as the operation started. It was led by Gemelli’s chief thoracic surgeon, Dr. Stefano Margaritora.

“Let us join together in prayer, asking the Lord to sustain our bishop, Pope Leo, and to comfort all those who are hospitalized here,” said the vicar of Rome, Cardinal Baldassare Reina, at the start of the prayer.

Prayers and well-wishes poured in from all over the world in response to the news.