Pope Leo XIV will be admitted to Rome's Gemelli Hospital late Tuesday morning ahead of surgery to remove a nodule from his lung, the Holy See Press Office said Monday, EWTN News reported.
The 71-year-old pontiff kept to his regular schedule Monday, holding private audiences at the Vatican as he prepared for the operation, Reuters reported.
Leo disclosed the diagnosis himself on Sunday. Speaking from a window of the Apostolic Palace after the noon Angelus prayer, he told the crowd in St. Peter's Square that doctors had found a small nodule during recent medical exams. He said it was caught at a very early stage and is confined to one spot, and that he had agreed with his doctors' advice to have it removed.
"I entrust myself to your prayers," he said, according to UPI.
Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said the hospital stay after the operation should last about a week, The Associated Press reported. Gemelli keeps a private apartment for popes and has treated several of them, including Pope Francis and Pope John Paul II. The Vatican has not said which surgeons will operate.
Leo did not say whether the nodule is cancerous. Most lung nodules turn out to be benign, NPR reported, and doctors typically remove or test them to rule out a more serious problem.
While he is in the hospital, the Vatican will keep running, but decisions that need the pope's signature will wait, CNN reported.
The diagnosis caught many by surprise. Leo has had no known health problems and plays tennis weekly, CBS News noted. Born in Chicago and formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost, he was elected in May 2025 after the death of Francis, who struggled with chronic lung disease.
His travel plans are now uncertain. Leo is due in Latin America from Nov. 7-16, and the Vatican has not said whether the trip will go ahead, the AP reported. Shortly before announcing the surgery Sunday, he thanked a group of Peruvian Catholics for praying for his visit to their country.