Pope Leo eating, walking after lung cancer surgery

The Holy See reported Thursday that Pope Leo XIV independently carried out his daily activities days after surgery to remove a cancerous mass from his lungs. The Holy See’s news outlet, Vatican News, reported that chest X-rays taken Thursday morning showed the lung recovering well following the Tuesday surgery. 

Doctors at Gemelli Hospital removed a small, localized node from the 71-year-old pontiff’s right lung, which officials confirmed was cancerous after removal, the Holy See shared. Doctors performed a video-assisted radical resection and removed the lower lobe of Leo’s right lung. The operation lasted about an hour and a half, though the pontiff remained in the operating room for a total of three hours, according to the Holy See’s statement. Doctors reported a successful surgery with no complications, and Leo awoke normally after the procedure. 

The Vatican described Leo’s first night at the hospital after surgery as peaceful, and reported that he ate breakfast and lunch the following day and started to walk around his room, according to a Wednesday update. Blood tests and chest X-rays showed a post-operative recovery progressing as normal, the Holy See added. 

Didn’t the previous pope have surgery or issues with his lungs? The previous pontiff, Pope Francis, experienced lung and respiratory issues throughout his life after an infection prompted doctors to remove a piece of his lung in 1957. Francis suffered double pneumonia weeks before his death in April of last year, weakening the pontiff before he slipped into a coma and suffered irreversible heart failure.