Leo XIV's Gemelli Stay Continues a Papal Tradition
Admitted on October 13, he will undergo surgery for a small lung nodule and stay in the papal suite that dates back to Saint John Paul II.
Pope Leo XIV was admitted to the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic in Rome on October 13, 2026, ahead of surgery to remove a small, localized lung nodule discovered during routine examinations. The surgery, scheduled for that afternoon, will be carried out by the thoracic surgery team led by Professor Stefano Margaritora. He is expected to remain in the hospital for about a week.
The admission renewed a bond forged over decades between the papacy and a hospital affiliated with the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart. Gemelli became known as the hospital of the popes after Saint John Paul II was rushed there following the assassination attempt in St. Peter's Square on May 13, 1981.
John Paul II and the Tenth-Floor Suite
Between 1981 and 2005, John Paul II made approximately ten stays at the Gemelli, totaling 153 days. One hospitalization in 1981, marked by complications from a blood transfusion, lasted about 55 to 56 days. The repeated visits led to the creation of a dedicated papal suite on the tenth floor, arranged for security and privacy. The Polish pope nicknamed the hospital “Vatican III.”
That suite has remained available to his successors. The hospital's papal connection rests on its Catholic roots and on the practical needs that first became clear during John Paul II's many returns for care.
Francis and the Path to Leo XIV
Pope Francis was hospitalized at the Gemelli four times. In July 2021 he underwent colon surgery and remained about ten days. He was treated for a respiratory infection in March and April 2023 for a few days, then returned in June 2023 for abdominal hernia surgery and stayed roughly nine days. A prolonged stay began on February 14, 2025, for a polymicrobial respiratory infection and pneumonia, lasting until late March.
Pope Leo XIV now occupies the same tradition of care. The Holy See presented the nodule as small and localized and pointed to an expected recovery of about one week, without further public detail on the clinical course beyond those statements.
For a Church that prays daily for the health of the Roman Pontiff, the Gemelli stands as a familiar place: a Catholic university hospital where, since 1981, shepherds of the universal Church have been received with discretion when illness has required it.