Pope Leo arrives at Rome Hospital ahead of Lung surgery (Photos)

Pope Leo XIV has arrived at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome ahead of his upcoming lung operation.

The Pope will undergo surgery to remove a lung nodule this afternoon at the hospital.

Dr. Stefano Margaritora, the hospital’s chief thoracic surgeon, will be the lead surgeon for the pope’s operation, assisted by a medical team, according to the Holy See Press Office.

The pope arrived at the hospital by car at about 1 p.m. Rome time, greeting hospital staff and waving to journalists and well-wishers gathered outside the polyclinic hospital as he walked inside.

The Vatican announced after his arrival that the surgery will take place later in the afternoon.

Pope Leo is expected to remain for one week of recovery in the Gemelli Hospital, located atop Monte Mario, the highest hill in Rome.

The Vatican has canceled all of the pope’s scheduled audiences through Oct. 20.

Medical experts told OSV News that lung nodules, or abnormal growths on the lungs, are far from unusual — and, for the most part, not life-threatening.

“Lung nodules are very common, and 90% of the time, they are benign,” said Dr. Stacey Su, chief of thoracic surgery at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia and associate professor of surgical oncology at Temple University’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine.

But, she said, “the potential impact of lung cancers is so grave that any lung nodule deserves serious attention.”

“Most of the time these are asymptomatic,” Dr. Nirmal Veeramachaneni, professor of cardiothoracic surgery at St. Louis University School of Medicine and medical director for lung cancer screening at SSM Health, said. “They’re often found incidentally.”