Pope Leo thanks well-wishers for their support as he prepares to undergo surgery 'in the coming days' after lump found on his lung
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Pope Leo XIV has thanked well-wishers for their support after announcing he will undergo surgery in the coming days to remove a recently discovered lump on his lung.
In a blessing at St Peter's Square in Vatican City at midday on Sunday, he said: 'Recently, during some medical examinations, doctors discovered a well-defined lung nodule, detected at a very early stage and clearly localised.
'The doctors consider it appropriate to intervene, and so, following their advice, I have decided to undergo surgery to have it removed.
'The procedure has already been scheduled for the coming days. I thank you and entrust myself to your prayers.'
The American pope, 71, added in a post on X this afternoon: 'I thank you for your spiritual closeness and entrust myself to your prayers.'
The Vatican has said he will undergo surgery at the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital in Rome in the first days of this week and his recovery is expected to take about seven days.
Pope Leo XIV, pictured during Sunday's Angelus prayer, said doctors had detected a very early-stage nodule in his lung and he would undergo surgery in the coming days
Leo, 71, attends the holy mass for the inauguration of the academic year of the pontifical universities in the St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on October 8
This image shows how a lung nodule would appear on an X-ray (File image)
Leo was elected pope by the world's cardinals in May last year and is relatively young for a church leader. He has no previously known medical problems and is considered physically active, known to play weekly tennis games and go swimming.
The late Pope Francis, Leo's predecessor, died at age 88 and was increasingly frail in his later years.
Leo has a major trip in November when he is planned to visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru over two weeks. It is not clear whether the procedure will affect these plans.
A pulmonary nodule is a small area of abnormal growth on a lung. They usually do not cause symptoms but can be seen on X-rays and CT scans.
Nodules can be caused by infections, autoimmune diseases or cancer – however they are usually not cancerous.
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