Pope Leo XIV says he will undergo surgery in the coming days to remove a nodule on his lung

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV announced Sunday he will undergo surgery in the coming days to remove a nodular lesion on his lung, in the first major health event of his 17-month pontificate. The 71-year-old Leo said the nodule was found at an early stage and was “circumscribed” or well-localized. The Vatican said Leo would undergo surgery in ”the coming days, with an expected recovery time of a week. The American pope made the announcement during his Sunday noon blessing. He thanked the crowd for their closeness and entrusted himself to their prayers. A nodule can be benign or malignant A lung nodule is a small abnormal area measuring less than 3 centimeters (1 inch) that sometimes appears on a CT scan of the chest or abdomen, according to the American Cancer Society. Often, the scans are done to investigate trauma or a lung infection, unrelated to a lung cancer screening. “Lung nodules are fairly common and are often benign, but benign and cancerous nodules can have