It has not yet been confirmed whether the nodule is benign or malignant. We will have to wait a few more days to find out. Considering that the previous pontificate ushered in an era of greater transparency and less discretion regarding the Pope’s health prognosis, we can hope to receive information that is as clear and straightforward as possible, provided directly by the Pope himself. I don’t know much about medicine, but I imagine that if the planned course of action for the coming days consists essentially of surgery, the nodule is likely to be benign, since, otherwise, a more extensive intervention involving the patient’s body might be necessary. Perhaps @BrianK , who is a physician, can shed some more light on this for us ?
I don’t think we can tell yet whether the nodule is benign or cancerous. He likely had a CT or other imaging that identified it and helped his doctors decide to remove it. The removed tissue will be examined by a pathologist to establish the diagnosis. The fact that surgery is planned doesn’t itself tell us whether it’s benign or malignant—we’ll need to wait for the pathology results. Praying for him
Exhortation to Prayer for the Health of Pope Leo Today, during his address after the praying of the Angelus, Pope Leo XIV announced that, in the coming days, he will undergo a surgical intervention to remove a well-circumscribed lung nodule. I ask all pilgrims to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe at La Crosse and all friends of the Shrine to pray, through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, for the health of His Holiness and to pray that Holy Spirit guide the hands of the surgeons in their care for him. Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke October 11, 2026.
Surgery is tomorrow.... https://abcnews.com/International/p...uesday-lung-nodule-surgery/story?id=137190261
I have 2 nodules on my lungs for about 8 years. The doctors look for growth but from experience, in my family, a biopsy is usually done before such a big operation. I've seen people deteriorate after the operations. My own mom and 2 uncles. Prayers for the Pope always.
I see the Hand of God so much in all this. Prayers that the Will of God be done in this and in all things Most perfectly. Amen. They're not cutting into his chest to remove that lump without good reason. He would have had regular scans. It must have been fast growing. "“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”" — Isaiah 55:8–9 [1]
It is so interesting that Pope Leo enters hospital on October 13th!! On October 13, 1917, an estimated 70,000 people gathered in Fátima, Portugal, and witnessed the Miracle of the Sun during the final apparition of the Virgin Mary to three shepherd children—Lúcia dos Santos, Francisco Marto, and Jacinta Marto.
I wouldn't go placing too much trust in anything the Vatican Press Dept says. There is an old joke in Italy that a Pope died and two days later they issued a press bulletin that he was recovering well.
