Doctor Stefano Margaritora, Professor of Thoracic Surgery at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, performed the operation on Pope Leo XIV on October 13. In an interview with Vatican News, he described a procedure that was medically routine — and personally unlike anything he had experienced before: “A deep feeling I cannot describe,” he said of operating on the Pope. The lung adenocarcinoma was not discovered through symptoms — Leo XIV had none. It appeared by chance during routine abdominal imaging: because the lower lungs appear at the top of abdominal scans, a small spot at the base of the right lung became visible. Early-stage lung cancer rarely announces itself, which is precisely why Margaritora used the occasion to stress the importance of regular checkups and lung cancer screening for those at risk. Because of the tumor’s size, the entire lower lobe of the right lung was removed. The procedure had no complications. Before Read More…

The surgeon who operated on Leo XIV: “An ideal patient”