Top Vatican diplomat says the Pope's health should not be considered "excessive".

Archbishop Paul Gallagher told the BBC there were no signs the pope was in poor health before his surgery this week.

A senior British Vatican official told the BBC that Pope Leo XIV's health should not be taken "immediately".

Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican's secretary of state since 2014, said the news of the pope's illness was "a bit of a game-changer", adding: "It will make things a bit different".

Pope was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the lung after surgery to remove the lower lobe of his right lung.

"I think maybe we took him for granted a little bit," Archbishop Gallagher said Tuesday after announcing the pope's surgery, but before the cancer diagnosis.

The 71-year-old underwent surgery at Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Tuesday afternoon, which the Vatican said was "successful" and without complications.

Speaking to Radio 4's Sunday program to be broadcast this weekend, the archbishop said: "In some ways I think it's a bit of a game-changer after the last years of Pope Francis in a wheelchair.

And Pope Leo comes along and he's athletic and he seems to be in great health and now we're being told he's not in perfect health and things need to be worked out.

Asked how he would do things differently in the future, the archbishop said church figures might have the impression that "he is not quite like the rest of us who are aware of our vulnerabilities and our aging process".

"But many of us have been through similar experiences at different times in our lives, and we've gotten through them, and so we hope that's the case with Pope Leo," he continued.

"I'm concerned. I think we have to ask: How was it discovered? What happened?"

The Vatican said the pope was improving in hospital and was expected to lead Sunday prayers.

They had emphasized that the pope had shown no signs of infection or illness before the operation.

The Angelus prayer is traditionally recited in the Vatican, overlooking the crowd in St. Peter's Square, but sometimes previous popes have recited it from a hospital window if necessary.

No date has been set for Pope Leo's release from the hospital, but recovery is expected to take about a week.

Pap image for the first time after surgery and cancer diagnosis

Leo himself announced the news of his surgery during his weekly Sunday prayer, telling the crowd in St. Peter's Square that doctors had found a nodule in his lung.

Nodules are quite common and not necessarily cancerous, but upon examination, the medical team confirmed it was "suspicious based on preoperative tests," the Vatican said.

Archbishop Gallagher, who is from Liverpool, also said he expected the pope to visit Britain at some point.

"We had a little exchange," he said. "He's just thinking about what he might do in 2027, but he's still looking at the possibilities."

He "brings a fresh spirit," the archbishop said after the pontiff's rapturous reception in France and Spain earlier this year.

But these things require a lot of planning, so you don't do it overnight.

You can hear Archbishop Gallagher's interview on Radio 4's Sunday program on 0710.