Oct. 13, 2:15 p.m. EST: Pope Leo’s lung surgery concludes ‘positively,’ Vatican says

Pope Leo XIV was operated on for the removal of a lung nodule this evening at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, Oct. 13. “The operation has concluded positively, within the time and ways that were envisaged,” and “the Holy Father is now back in his room,” the Vatican said in a brief statement issued around 7:50 p.m. It said “more information would follow” without giving any more details.

The director of the Holy See’s press office is expected to speak to journalists this evening.

The operation was conducted by Professor Stefano Margaritora, 66, the hospital’s main thoracic surgeon, assisted by a seven-person team.

Oct. 13, 9:30 a.m. EST: Pope Leo XIV admitted to hospital for lung surgery today

Pope Leo XIV was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital around 1 p.m. today, Oct. 13, and will undergo surgery this afternoon to remove a “small, localized nodule” from his lung.

The Vatican Press Office said in a statement that the surgery will be “performed by the thoracic surgery team led by Professor Stefano Margaritora.” It added that “further information will be provided this evening.” 

The American-born pope was escorted by car from the Vatican to the hospital and was welcomed by the hospital’s top officials and a large crowd of TV journalists, photographers and other media, as well as 100 or more visitors and staff, who shouted “good luck,” “courage” and “viva il papa!”

During his stay in hospital, the pope will be in a suite on the 10th floor of the Gemelli Hospital. He will not be in the suite that Popes John Paul II and Francis occupied, as earlier reported, but in an adjacent room because the papal suite is being refurbished.

Pope Leo XIV arrives at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital Oct. 13, 2026, ahead of his surgery that afternoon to remove a lung nodule. (OSV News photo/Simone Risoluti, Vatican Media)

Dr. Margaritora, a top specialist in thoracic surgery, will lead a team of seven people in carrying out the operation. He will be joined by other surgeons as well as the pope’s personal physician, Luigi Carbone, who was also part of the team that cared for Pope Francis and heads the Department of Health and Hygiene of the Vatican City State. Massimiliano Strappetti, the nurse who was very close to Pope Francis and still works for the Vatican’s health service, will be responsible for Leo XIV’s health and recovery during the pope’s estimated weeklong convalescence after the surgery.

Professor Andrea dell’Amore told the Italian daily La Repubblica that doctors will likely use “minimally invasive” robotic technology to remove the nodule. This technique leaves tiny incisions in the skin that should facilitate a quick recovery. The professor estimated that the operation would take about 90 minutes.

This morning participants at the weeklong “Amoris Laetitia” meeting at the Vatican, which included the presidents of the Catholic Church’s 115 episcopal conferences and the heads of its Eastern Rite churches, sent the following message to Pope Leo before he left the Vatican for the hospital:

Holy Father,
This morning, as you enter hospital, all of us gathered for the Meeting “Ten Years After Amoris laetitia: Proclaiming the Gospel with Families Today” wish to express our closeness and our affection. We accompany you in prayer, wishing you a swift recovery, entrusting you and all those who will care for you to the Lord. We are grateful to you for having wanted this Meeting and for encouraging us to listen to families and to the journeys of our Churches. As we continue our work, we feel your closeness and carry with us your concern for families throughout the world. A filial embrace from the entire Assembly. We pray for you and ask for your blessing.

According to the Roman liturgical calendar, Oct. 13 is the feast of the final apparition of Our Lady at Fatima in 2017 and the Miracle of the Sun that reportedly took place then. Many people around the world are invoking Our Lady’s intercession for Pope Leo in these hours, as they did for John Paul II, who attributed his survival from an attempted assassination in 1981 to her intercession.

Vatican Media reported that Cardinal Pietro Parolin, when asked by journalists at a conference at the Pontifical Gregorian University about the pope’s situation, said, “We were all struck by his serenity,” referring to the composure with which the pope conveyed the announcement about the upcoming surgery at his Sunday Angelus.

“We hope, as he said, that we are right at the beginning of this difficulty and that the problem can therefore be resolved as soon as possible. We are confident. Naturally, we are all accompanying him with our prayers and affection,” he said.

Cardinal Parolin revealed that he had spoken with Pope Leo on Monday afternoon and, according to Vatican Media, said: “We spoke very calmly. The Holy Father truly is a great example in this regard.” He added that while he is “concerned because I certainly did not expect something like this to happen,” it was a condition, “which, thank God, was detected immediately” and could therefore be addressed “as soon as possible.” He concluded, “Normally, when these things are caught in time, they can be resolved.”

Gerard O’Connell is America’s senior Vatican correspondent and author of The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Story of the Conclave That Changed History. He has been covering the Vatican since 1985.