Dr. Mark Siegel: Pope Leo's Lung Surgery Places Modern Medicine Alongside Faith

Pope Leo XIV drank from the Lourdes spring just weeks before undergoing minimally invasive VATS surgery to remove a lung nodule at Rome's Gemelli Hospital.

Pope Leo entered the hospital for surgery to remove a lung nodule

Pope Leo XIV went to the Augustino Gemelli Hospital in Rome on Tuesday for an operation to remove a small nodule in his lung.

When Pope Leo XIV visited Lourdes, France, on September 26, he drank a glass of water from the spring in the Massabile cave, where St. Bernadette Soubiros reported a vision of the Virgin Mary in 1858.

Who knew last month that the Pope might be calling upon the healing waters to aid in his healing as he faces the surgical removal of what the Vatican describes as "a small localized nodule" that he said was "detected at an early stage and well positioned."

The surgery will be performed on Tuesday, October 13, followed by a week of recovery at Rome's Augustino Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital. Small lung nodules are often detected on CT scans of the lungs. If the nodule is small, well-circumscribed, and has features, including irregularities that are worrisome for malignancy, as may be the case here, removal is often performed using minimally invasive techniques.

Pope Leo entered the hospital for surgery to remove a lung nodule

The surgeon in charge of his medical team is Professor Stefano Margaritura, director of the thoracic surgery department at Gemelli and expert in minimally invasive techniques. Margaritora is known for single-portal (one small incision) video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), performed through a scope under direct visualization. This procedure will be performed for pop.

Dr. Robert Cerfolio, CEO of Pinnacle Global Health and one of the world's top minimally invasive lung surgeons, thinks highly of Margaritora but generally prefers the robotic approach, in part because of the smaller incisions and better visualization. The robot is placed between the ribs and inside the chest and is controlled by the surgeon through the console.

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If all goes well, I expect the Holy Father to resume his normal activities fairly quickly. The fact that he lives an active lifestyle at age 71 and appears to be in generally good health no doubt contributes to his recovery.

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Martha Cecilia of Heaven is spiritually rejuvenated in Lourdes. He watches people come there hopeless and return home with tremendous hope, their mental and emotional state completely changed.

"Lorde is a miracle," she tells me in an interview for my new book, Angels Among Us. "Not everyone can say they're cured. For me, my hand opens up after a stroke and starts working again when it's not supposed to. During rehab at Burke Rehabilitation Hospital [in Westchester County, New York], I was told I wasn't going to be able to walk on my own, but sometimes I struggle in New York City. ... My emotional health is tied to Lourdes, and I know there's no limit to what I can do. does not exist."

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In an interview for this book, Dr. Alessandro De Franciscis, the outgoing director of the Lourdes Medical Observatory, tells me that Lourdes is a happy place, a place of healing mind over matter. "The pilgrims who travel here are sick people who might not be able to get on the subway or climb the stairs or squeeze into a department store, and yet they thrive here."

The "malads" are cared for by four times as many volunteer caregivers, nicknamed "hospitals".

During his September 2026 visit to Lourdes, Pope Leo met thousands of sick pilgrims and the many more patrons who care for them, celebrating the sanctuary's deep heritage of physical, spiritual and inner healing.

And now, as he undergoes surgery with the benefit of modern medical science, it certainly doesn't hurt to pray for millions around the world - and partake of the healing waters of Lourdes Grotto.

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