Pope Leo XIV was discharged from Rome's Agostino Gemelli University Hospital on Saturday, October 17, 2026, four days after undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his right lung. His surgeon, Professor Stefano Margaritora, told Vatican News the 71-year-old pontiff's lung cancer was discovered "entirely by chance" during routine abdominal examinations — and called the Pope "an ideal patient" throughout his recovery.
Discovered by chance
The discovery of the Pope's malignant lung tumor was entirely accidental, Margaritora said in an interview with Vatican News published Saturday. During routine abdominal examinations, doctors spotted a small spot in the chest, at the base of the lung.
"This is fairly normal because, when radiological examinations of the abdomen are performed, the lower part of the lungs is usually visible, since the diaphragm is shaped somewhat like a parachute," the surgeon explained. "However, if this small spot had been a little higher up, it certainly would not have been seen."
Leo XIV had no warning signs. "He had no respiratory symptoms and felt perfectly well," Margaritora said. The Pope announced the operation himself at his Sunday noon blessing on October 11 before thousands in St. Peter's Square, saying a "localized nodule" would be removed from his lung. Tests during surgery confirmed lung adenocarcinoma, a common form of lung cancer.
Margaritora, the thoracic surgery chief at Gemelli, said the operation removed the entire lower lobe of the right lung and went ahead "without any complications."
"An ideal patient"
"Operating on a Pope stirred a deep feeling that I cannot even describe," he said — a Pope has never before undergone surgery for a malignant tumor in modern history, as far as is known.
Before the anesthesia took effect, the surgeon introduced his team to the pontiff: "Holy Father, this is our dream team." Leo XIV entered the operating room smiling and relaxed.
"Pope Leo was an ideal patient. I am not saying that to flatter him. He truly did not cause the slightest problem for the team caring for him, and he would not have done so even if his name had been Mario Bianchi." — Professor Stefano Margaritora
The Pope was serene, always smiling, and rarely complained despite the pain, Margaritora said. He followed every stage of the guidance on diet and physiotherapy — and always did a little more than asked. On the second day after the operation, staff turned around to find him arranging the chairs in the hospital chapel himself. "Holy Father, we can do that," they said. He replied: "It doesn't matter. I can do it, so I will."
At discharge, the pontiff's blood test results were completely normal and his heart function fine. Lung re-expansion is proceeding on the expected timetable.
Cleared for South America
The most pressing question was the Pope's scheduled apostolic journey to Latin America, set for November 6–17 with stops in Uruguay, Argentina and Peru — where the American-born pontiff spent two decades as a missionary.
"I would say there are no clinical reasons why this visit should not take place," Margaritora said. With almost a week already passed, he believes the Pope could be fully recovered in about ten more days. All audiences remain cancelled until October 20, and Leo has already resumed some duties, including a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday urging a ceasefire in the Ukrainian city of Oleshky. Doctors are still awaiting test results that will determine any further course of treatment.
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Lightless Dawn (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
The episode carried a lesson the surgeon wanted the world to hear. "Unfortunately, especially in its early stages, this cancer causes no symptoms," Margaritora said, urging people — especially those at risk — to undergo regular preventive checkups for lung cancer too. In the end, it was routine diligence — a spot glimpsed on a scan meant for something else — that caught the pontiff's cancer while it could still be cut out.