Editorial
All the Pope’s audiences have been cancelled as Pope Leo XIV prepares to be admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital today, Tuesday, for surgery to remove a small, localized nodule from his lung.
The Vatican yesterday evening said the cancellations will run until October 20th, and that his hospital stay after the operation is expected to last about a week. It also clarified that the nodule was found during routine medical checks.
Because of the surgery, the Pope will no longer preside at Wednesday’s Mass in St. Peter’s Square, which marks ten years since the document Amoris Laetitia, on family life. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle will lead the Mass in his place, with special prayers for the Pope’s health and for families.
The Pope has also asked that the report from the meeting should not be published yet, so he can first hear its conclusions and offer his own reflections after leaving hospital.
Messages of support continue to arrive from Church and political leaders across all five continents.