Pope Leo announces lung surgery in rare move for pontiff

Pope Leo XIV announced on Sunday that he will undergo surgery to remove a pulmonary nodule, described as a small growth, from his lung. The Buenos Aires Herald reports that the announcement was made following the Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square, where the Pope explained that doctors detected the localized nodule during recent medical examinations and recommended intervention. CBS News noted that the pontiff making this announcement himself is a rare move.

The Vatican stated that the Pope is expected to be admitted to Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Tuesday morning. While SABC News reports that the exact timing of the operation has not been confirmed, the Vatican expects his recovery to take approximately one week. The nodule was reportedly found during a routine health check and was detected at an early stage.

This medical procedure occurs a few weeks before the Pope's scheduled South American tour, which includes a visit to Argentina from November 8 to 11. Despite the upcoming surgery, the Pope maintained a busy schedule on Monday, which included meetings with visiting bishops and a Rome-based charity group.

Brief written by urgent.news from CBS News, Punch, Punch Nigeria, Buenos Aires Herald, SABC News — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.