10/13/2026
Please keep Pope Leo in your prayers as he recovers from surgery to remove lung cancer.
Pope Leo XIV has been diagnosed with lung cancer following a 90-minute surgery on Oct. 13 during which surgeons removed the lower lobe of the pope’s right lung.
Dr. Stefano Margaritora, chief thoracic surgeon at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, led a medical team in the operation.
In a joint statement with Dr. Luigi Carbone released at just before 10 p.m. Rome time, the doctors said that the “examination confirmed the diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, as suspected by the preoperative tests.”