Vatican Pope Surgery
An image of Pope Leo XIV rests at the base of a statue of Pope St. John Paul II at the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, where Leo is hospitalized, in Rome, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026.
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Pope Leo XIV has brought an American style of governing to the Vatican, including in the way it handles health crises. Not only did history’s first American pope announce himself that he had a lung nodule that required removal. But Leo’s doctors have been providing the medical updates for his recovery, not the Vatican. The written medical updates are spare, but provide authoritative information with a degree of accountability and transparency that is anathema to the Vatican. It's a far cry from the times of St. John Paul II, when his spokesman would tell some tall tales about his health that in retrospect seem hard to believe.
