World Church · October 20, 2026
Pope undergoes lung surgery, diagnosed with cancer
Last Sunday, the news broke, raising concern: the Pope announced during the Angelus prayer that he needed to undergo surgery for a nodule in his lung. Immediately, alarm spread from newsrooms to discussions, and then to sacristies, circulating quickly like wildfire of concern and calculations. The surgery, performed on Tuesday, confirmed the worst diagnoses: the Pope had lung cancer. This dreaded word, considered taboo, led to discussions of a Vatican in pre-conclave, convoluted explanations sought, and, as often happens in our world, conspiracy theories emerged.
However, León XIV overcame this difficulty with unusual speed, largely due to the technique used for the extraction of the lower lobe of his right lung. By the way, 'made in Spain', as not everything we do is wrong in these polarized times. In just four days, the ailing Pope was walking, working, signing appointments, celebrating mass, and this Saturday, he returned home. This Sunday, he was seen from the same balcony where he announced his illness. Does this pontificate change?
We will have to wait for the results of medical analyses, but if we can draw some lessons from what occurred this week, undoubtedly one of them is that this Pope is a man, and knows how to place himself in the hands of God and of men. He did so by announcing his operation, accepting a more aggressive strategy than initially thought, and not hiding any information.