The Vatican on Tuesday announced that Pope Leo XIV had a successful lung surgery to remove a lower lobe of his right lung.
The Vatican said in a medical bulletin that the 71-year-old underwent the 90-minute surgery at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital.
“After the operation, the Pope awoke normally and returned after a brief period of observation to his room on the 10th floor,” the Vatican said in a statement.
It comes after the lump was detected during what the Vatican has described as “routine checks”.
Earlier, large crowds gathered outside the hospital to greet the Pope, with some waiting for several hours.
They cheered greetings and well wishes as he passed, while he waved and smiled back through the lowered back window of his car.
He was then met by staff on the hospital steps. “I’m sorry,” one of them commiserated, to which the Pope gave a smile and a shrug.
“We’re here for you,” he was assured.
Leo XIV had on Sunday announced the news of his operation to the world, while speaking from the balcony in St Peter’s Square after delivering the traditional Angelus blessing.
He said the nodule, or growth, on his lung was “contained” and had been found “at a very early stage”, but that doctors had advised him to have it removed.
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