A churchman who saw Leo on Monday, Tokyo Cardinal Kikuchi Tsutomu, said Leo told him he felt fine and decided to have the surgery immediately so that he wouldn’t have to alter his upcoming travel plans to Latin America.
But the decision clearly came as a surprise: While Gemelli has a specific papal apartment that past popes have used, complete with a private chapel on the 10th floor, Leo is actually staying in a nearby room since the papal apartment is currently undergoing renovations, according to the Vatican press office.
The nodule was discovered during regular checks, the Vatican has said.
Kikuchi, the Tokyo archbishop who is also head of the Vatican’s charitable federation Caritas Internationalis, said Leo told him he felt no different than usual and was looking ahead to the trip.
“He has decided to undergo surgery soon in order to not change his plans for future overseas trips, so there is no need to worry, as it is not an emergency,” Kikuchi wrote on the Facebook page of the Tokyo archdiocese.
Tuesday is believed to be the second hospitalization for Leo, who is known to be sporty and in good shape, with weekly tennis games and swimming.
As a young missionary priest, he came down with typhoid fever in 1985, soon after arriving in Chulucanas, Peru.
Leo leaves the Vatican on Tuesday.Tiziana Fabi / AFP via Getty
The illness and hospitalization were a cathartic moment for him to decide to stay in the poverty and discomfort of Peru after living in relative comfort in Rome — a decision that ultimately paved the way to his papacy, according to an interview Leo gave to Elise Ann Allen in 2025 for “Pope Leo XIV: The Biography.”
According to the book, Leo said he prayed to God to let him die rather than suffer the “horrible” pain of the fever. “I was hooked up to an IV, and I said, ‘If this is your sense of humor, Lord, I think you could do a little better.’
“Obviously, I survived; I recovered, but it turned out to be a very significant moment for me, because it was like, ‘Well, you’ve already dealt with the illness; you already see what the needs are here — the order, the Augustinians, the church are telling you, “We need you here; go for it.”’ I never looked back.”