Pope Leo XIV spent a tranquil night in Rome’s Gemelli hospital following an operation to remove the lower lobe of his right lung and a confirmed cancer diagnosis, the Vatican said in a statement Wednesday.
The Vatican said more information would be provided later in the day.
Tests confirmed a diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, the Vatican said late Tuesday in a medical bulletin after the surgery. It said the diagnosis had been suspected by preoperative tests and was confirmed during surgery.
The medical bulletin made no mention of treatment going forward, and the Vatican said doctors were not currently speaking of chemotherapy or other therapies pending the results of other tests. The Vatican press office noted the medical statement spoke of the “radical” removal of the lobe as an indication that doctors removed all suspect tissue in hopes of removing any lingering traces of the cancer.
Leo’s lymph nodes also would have been removed and tested, to determine if the cancer had spread, and there was no word yet on those test results.
