The Lower Eastern Times Opening The Third Eye
Pope Leo XIV has announced he will undergo an operation “in the coming days” after doctors found a nodule on his lung during a medical checkup.
Addressing the faithful during his weekly Sunday Angelus prayer in St Peter’s Square, the 71-year-old pontiff said the nodule was early-stage and well localised. He said his medical team believed it would be right to intervene and that he had agreed to the procedure.
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He thanked the faithful for their spiritual closeness and said he entrusted himself to their prayers.
Holy See Press Office spokesperson Matteo Bruni said the surgery was scheduled for the first days of next week, with a recovery period of about a week expected. Vatican News reported that it would take place at Gemelli Hospital in Rome, where a special papal suite was set up after the failed assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in May 1981 and remains in use today.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her “personal solidarity” with the Pope in a post on X, saying he faced an ordeal in the coming days.
Born Robert Francis Prevost, Pope Leo succeeded Pope Francis in 2025 and is the 267th occupant of the throne of St Peter, as well as the first American. Ordained in 1982, he spent years as a missionary in Peru, where he is remembered for working with marginalised communities.
During the service, the Pope confirmed that his planned November visit to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru will still go ahead.
