AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Pope Leo has lung cancer. The Vatican announced the news today after the pope underwent surgery at a hospital in Rome. And at the Vatican today, officials led a gathering of people praying the rosary.
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CHANG: Now Leo had announced this weekend that he would be entering the hospital to remove a nodule in his lung. After what it called a successful surgery, the Vatican provided the update and diagnosis. My cohost Scott Detrow is the coauthor of a new biography of Pope Leo that just came out last week. He joins us now not as host, but as reporter in this particular case. Hi, Scott.
SCOTT DETROW, BYLINE: Hey, Ailsa.
CHANG: So what do we know at this point about how the pope's surgery did go today?
DETROW: The Vatican says this was a much more serious surgery than it had initially indicated. You know, this morning, the pope walked into the hospital greeting crowds as he made his way in. But then he was in the operating room for approximately three hours, though the Vatican says the operation itself lasted 90 minutes. The doctors said it was successful. There were no complications. But let's remember the initial plan had been to remove a nodule.
CHANG: Right.
DETROW: The surgery went well beyond that. Surgeons removed the lower lobe of the pope's right lung using a video assisted technique. Pope Leo is now resting in a hospital room, where he's expected to remain for at least a week. One interesting fact, Ailsa, is the hospital actually has a permanent papal suite where Pope Francis spent more than a month when he was seriously ill last year. But according to the AP, that suite is being renovated right now, so Leo is not using it.
CHANG: Oh. Well, what did the Vatican say about the cancer diagnosis?
DETROW: Yeah, the pope's doctors said the lung tissue examined during the operation confirmed the diagnosis that they suspected from previous tests, that they had not shared that suspicion until now. And they said an examination confirmed a diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, which is the most common form of lung cancer. Leo just turned 71, which is pretty young for a pope. He's a healthy person. He regularly exercises and has for his whole life. He plays tennis once a week. And I'll say no one ever mentioned him smoking at any point in all of my reporting on his life. But look, a cancer diagnosis is serious, though the Vatican statements do not include any indication of additional treatments like chemotherapy.
CHANG: Yeah, cancer diagnosis is serious. But I understand that in the pope's family, the Prevost family, there is a history of cancer, am I right?
DETROW: There is. You know, just today the Vatican announced that Leo's older brother, Louis, who lives in Florida, is himself hospitalized with a form of cancer.
CHANG: Wow.
DETROW: And Leo's mother, Mildred, died of cancer. She fought it for a long time. And in fact, reporting the book, we found a letter that the future pope wrote to friends in 1984, which was several years before Mildred died. And I was thinking a lot about it today. He writes, my mother continues to undergo chemotherapy treatments. She's a tough lady and handles it all well, which makes it a little easier for me being so far from Chicago.
CHANG: Well, Scott, is there any sense of what happens next?
DETROW: Not really, but here's what we know. The pope had just returned from a pretty triumphant trip to Paris. In less than a month, he is scheduled to travel to South America, which would include a multiday trip to Peru, where Leo lived on and off for two decades of his life. He's a Peruvian citizen in addition to an American citizen. And before today, the Vatican had not given any indication the trip would be canceled. It's not clear yet what will happen to it now that this surgery went beyond what was planned. But the Vatican says the pope has essentially cleared his public schedule for the next several days until at least October 20. And again, he's 71 years old. We're going to see how long it takes for him to recover from this, and what happens next.
CHANG: That is my ALL THINGS CONSIDERED cohost Scott Detrow, who coauthored the new biography of Pope Leo. It's called "American Pope." Scott, thank you so much. It's an honor to interview you for a change.
DETROW: Thank you, Ailsa. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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