Pope Leo XIV underwent planned surgery Tuesday, during which doctors confirmed he has lung cancer, according to the Vatican. The operation was completed successfully without complications.

The Catholic leader, 71, announced Sunday that he would need surgery to remove a “small, localized” nodular lesion on his right lung detected during recent medical examinations. Leo made the announcement after a prayer, saying he would follow his doctors’ advice and welcoming prayers for his recovery.

During Tuesday’s surgery at Agostino Gemelli University Hospital, doctors removed the lower lobe of his right lung using a “video-assisted technique.”

An intraoperative histological examination confirmed a diagnosis of adenocarcinoma, a common type of cancer that can develop in several organs, including the lungs. The operation lasted 90 minutes and the pope spent approximately three hours in the operating room.

“Following the operation, the Pope woke up normally and, after a brief period of observation, returned to his room on the tenth floor,” the Vatican said in a statement.

Leo will be absent from all public events, including the weekly mass on Wednesday, until October 20 due to his hospitalization.

The surgery marks Leo’s first major medical episode and hospitalization during his papacy. Leo was elected last year following the death of his predecessor, Pope Francis.

Leo, whose birth name is Robert Francis Prevost, is the Catholic Church’s first American pope.

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