Breaking News · October 13, 2026, 6:20 PM CDT
As reported by NBC News:
Pope Leo XIV was diagnosed with lung cancer Tuesday and had part of his right lung removed, the Vatican said.
The announcement came after the seat of the Roman Catholic Church first reported that the pope’s surgery to remove a lung nodule was completed “successfully, on schedule and as planned.”
The 71-year-old Leo returned to his room after the surgery at Rome’s Gemelli hospital before a Vatican spokesperson announced that he was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma.
Adenocarcinoma is a type of non-small cell lung cancer, which tends to grow more slowly than other kinds of lung cancer. Non-small cell lung cancer accounts for about 80% of all cases, according to the American Lung Association.
Leo is not known to have ever been a smoker.[1]
Video: ABC News, October 13, 2026 — “Pope Leo XIV has been diagnosed with lung cancer and underwent surgery, Vatican says”. Matched to this story by shared names and terms in its title; watch the original for full context.
Where It Happened
![Street-level photo: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry looks out a window at the Christmas tree in the middle of St. Peter's Square on December 2, 2016, before a one-on-one meeting with Pope Francis in the Papal Apartments at the Vatican in Vatican City. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](https://kemeticmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/street-secretary-kerry-looks-at-the-christmas-tree-in-st-peter-27s-.jpg)
The pin marks Vatican City as named in the report, not an exact address. Map data: OpenStreetMap contributors. Street photo (2016): U.S. Department of State from United States, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
On the record
The announcement came after the seat of the Roman Catholic Church first reported that the pope’s surgery to remove a lung nodule was completed “successfully, on schedule and as planned.” The 71-year-old Leo returned to his room after the surgery at Rome’s Gemelli hospital before a Vatican spokesperson announced that he was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma.[1]
The numbers in the reporting
How 5 outlets are reporting it
- Vatican says pope has lung cancer and had part of his right lung removed (NBC News)
- What to Know About Pope Leo’s Lung Cancer Diagnosis (The New York Times)
- Pope Leo Diagnosed With Lung Cancer After Surgery (WSJ)
- Pope Leo XIV undergoes successful lung surgery (Vatican News)
- What to know about Pope Leo’s lung cancer (CNN)
What Vatican News reports
Pope Leo XIV underwent thoracic surgery at Gemelli Hospital on Tuesday afternoon, as planned, according to a statement from Dr. Luigi Carbone and Professor Stefano Margaritora released by the Holy See Press Office.
The surgeons removed the lower lobe of the Popeâs right lung. âTo ensure a radical resection, the lower lobe of the right lung was removed using a video-assisted technique,â the statement said.[2]
What is not yet confirmed
- “We prayed together for the pope, for the recovery and the good surgery.” It is not clear whether the pope will undergo additional treatment or when he may be back to work.[1]
What the official record says
Europa says, in its own words:
HR/VP Kallas visit to Rome and Vatican City On 2 October, HR/VP Kaja Kallas travelled to Rome and Vatican City.[3]
In Vatican City, she met with His Holiness Pope Leo XIV and the Holy See’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.[3]
How to Verify This Yourself
Each headline above links to that outlet’s own report. The quoted passages come from the first two of those reports that could be retrieved in full.
References
- NBC News. Vatican says pope has lung cancer and had part of his right lung removed. ↩
- Vatican News. Pope Leo XIV undergoes successful lung surgery. ↩
- Europa. HR/VP Kallas visit to Rome and Vatican City | EEAS Primary (official source) ↩
Investigative methodology: this story was selected because 5 separate news organizations were reporting it at the same time. The quoted text is verbatim from the cited reports; nothing is paraphrased or added. Produced by scripts/breaking_news_monitor.py, not a language model.
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