ROME — Pope Leo XIV had a calm first night at Gemelli Hospital after surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung Tuesday, the Holy See Press Office said Wednesday.
“The night passed calmly for the Pope.”
The office’s short morning update, carried by Vatican News, said more information would be released later in the day.
The operation lasted about 90 minutes and went without complications, according to a statement from Dr. Luigi Carbone and Stefano Margaritora, the hospital’s chief of thoracic surgery, who performed the procedure with the medical team. In all, the pope spent roughly three hours in the operating room.
Surgeons took out the entire lower lobe using a video-assisted technique. The doctors said the approach was chosen to ensure a radical resection.
Tissue examined during surgery confirmed lung adenocarcinoma, the diagnosis doctors had suspected from tests before the operation, the statement said. Those earlier exams had already shown the surgical team where and how to operate.
Leo woke normally from the procedure. After a brief period of observation, he returned to his room on the hospital’s 10th floor.
He later asked for dinner and spent the evening with his secretaries and other Vatican staff, according to Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office.
Further exams on the removed tissue are planned in the coming days. The Vatican has announced no change to the previously stated one-week hospital stay.
