Overview
- Surgeons at Rome’s Policlínico Gemelli removed the right lower lung lobe in a video‑assisted operation that took place on Tuesday and an intraoperative histology confirmed an adenocarcinoma.
- Vatican doctors report a favorable immediate recovery: the 71‑year‑old Pope woke lucid, resumed eating, began physiotherapy and showed blood tests and a chest X‑ray within expected ranges.
- León XIV remains hospitalized on the Gemelli’s tenth floor for routine post‑op monitoring with an estimated stay of about a week and public audiences suspended through October 20.
- Definitive staging and molecular tests on the removed tissue and lymph nodes are pending and will decide whether adjuvant therapy such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapy or immunotherapy is needed.
- The Vatican is issuing daily updates while host countries keep travel preparations active pending medical clearance, a decision that will shape logistics and the Pope’s pastoral program in Uruguay, Argentina and Peru.