Pope Leo XIV, admission to Gemelli hospital set for October 13
The Vatican Press Office today specified the timing of the surgical procedure announced by the Pontiff: admission tomorrow in the late morning, ahead of the operation for a lung nodule.
Pope Leo XIV had announced that he had a lung nodule and would have to undergo surgery in the early days of the week, with a post-operative period estimated by the Vatican at about seven days. The announcement had come through a statement from the Vatican Press Office, later picked up by international news agencies. Today, October 12, the Holy See Press Office released the exact timing: admission to the Gemelli Polyclinic is scheduled for tomorrow, October 13, in the late morning. Until this morning, the information available had been more general, limited to a placement “within the week”, with no specific day or time set.
“I have a lung nodule” — Pope Leo XIV, pontiff
The hospitalization precedes the operation to remove the nodule, described by Vatican sources as confined to the lung. The post-operative hospital stay remains indicated, according to the Vatican’s communication, at about a week, the same timeframe given at the time of the initial announcement.
Today’s clarification also entails an adjustment to the Pontiff’s public schedule. Leo XIV will not take part in the afternoon sessions of the summit dedicated to the apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia, while the Mass scheduled for October 14 will be celebrated in his place by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle.
On the institutional front, President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella expressed the closeness of Italians to the Pontiff, according to Vatican and press sources that have followed the matter since the initial announcement of the nodule.
The two sources documenting today’s development — Vatican News and la Repubblica, both referring back to the statement from the Holy See Press Office — agree on the same indication of date and time slot for the admission, while the initial news of the nodule had also been reported by Reuters.
At this point in the story, a precise timeline remains in place: admission on October 13 in the late morning, surgery in the immediately following days, and a post-operative hospital stay of about a week.
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