Pope Leo’s recovery from lung cancer surgery ‘progressing as planned’

Pontiff has begun walking in his hospital room and is eating normally after operation to remove growth, doctors say

Pope Leo, who had a cancerous mass removed from his right lung late on Tuesday, began walking in his hospital room after respiratory therapy on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo’s recovery from a lung cancer operation is progressing as planned, his doctors have said, as the pontiff received good wishes from around the world, including from Britain’s King Charles.

Pope Leo, who had a cancerous mass removed from his right lung late on Tuesday, began walking in his hospital room after respiratory therapy on Wednesday. He was eating normally, his doctors Luigi Carbone and Stefano Margaritoria said in a statement issued by the Vatican.

A blood test and chest X-ray showed “normal post-operative progress” and the results were “within the expected range for the type of procedure performed”, they said.

The operation at Rome’s Gemelli hospital confirmed that Pope Leo, 71, has the most common kind of lung cancer – adenocarcinoma. The Vatican has not yet disclosed the results of further tests to determine whether the cancer has spread and if more treatment will be needed.

The cancer diagnosis for Pope Leo, who was elected as the first US-born leader of the Roman Catholic church in May 2025, has come as a shock.

In a rare moment of Vatican transparency, the pope announced during his angelus prayer on Sunday that doctors had found a small nodule on his lung during a checkup and that it was “well-contained” and had been detected early.

Messages have been sent from around the world. King Charles, who is also being treated for an undisclosed form of cancer, would write to Pope Leo privately, a source told Agence France-Presse. 

Charles and Queen Camilla met the pope when they travelled to the Vatican in October last year.

Donald Trump, the US president, said: “I want to see Pope ‌Leo get well. I just want ⁠to wish him ​well, get ​better ​fast.” 

Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, wished Pope Leo a full and swift recovery in a message posted on X and said the pontiff was “a source of hope and inspiration for billions around the world”.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said he and his wife, Jeanette, were praying for Pope Leo. The couple met the pontiff at the Vatican in May.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, wrote on X that Leo’s serenity and strength were an inspiration for all. “We hope for his full and speedy recovery,” she wrote.

Before the operation, all of Pope Leo’s appointments until 20 October were cancelled. 

He went on a papal trip to France in September and is scheduled to go to South America in November for a 12-day trip covering 10 cities.

- The Guardian