Shape of Pope Leo’s papacy more uncertain after cancer diagnosis
Pope Leo arrives at Gemelli Hospital ahead of surgery to remove a lung nodule, in Rome, Italy, on Tuesday. | REUTERS
Oct 15, 2026
VATICAN CITY – When U.S. Cardinal Robert Prevost emerged on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in May 2025 as Pope Leo XIV, the new leader of the Catholic Church, he struck a stark contrast to his predecessor Francis.
Leo, young for a pope at 69, appeared energetic, spoke in a strong voice and had no known history of health issues. Francis, who died at 88, had become increasingly frail during his 12-year papacy.
With the Vatican’s announcement on Tuesday that Leo, now 71, was diagnosed with lung cancer after surgeons removed part of his right lung that afternoon, the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics are again unexpectedly facing the reality of a sick pope.
In a time of both misinformation and too much information,
quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.