The pope-frequented hospital where Leo will have surgery

Rome's Gemelli University Hospital, a favored choice of past popes, will be the site of Pope Leo's surgery on Tuesday. The 71-year-old US pontiff is being admitted for a procedure to remove a pulmonary nodule. Dubbed "Vatican III" by John Paul II, a regular visitor to the largest hospital north of the Vatican, Gemelli has a special top-floor suite to accommodate the pope and his medical team.

This marks the first time Pope Leo, 72, has been hospitalized since ascending to the papacy in May 2025, following the death of his predecessor, Francis.

Pope John Paul II, who headed the Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005, had nine surgeries at Gemelli, spending a total of 153 days there. The hospital was even equipped with a mini-residence on site, a top-floor apartment guarded by police, to accommodate the pontiff's frequent stays. The suite where Pope Leo will be staying is reportedly white-painted and furnished simply, aside from the pope's room, a meeting room for medical staff, a kitchen, bathroom, rest areas, and a small chapel.

Despite its association with popes, Pope Benedict XVI never stayed at Gemelli, according to official announcements. The hospital's namesake, Agostino Gemelli, was a Franciscan friar and psychologist who founded the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan in 1921. The Gemelli hospital, opened in 1964, is part of this university.