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<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\nVATICAN CITY \u2014 Pope Leo XIV is recovering as expected after undergoing surgery for lung cancer,<\/a> the Vatican said Oct. 14, as U.S. Catholic leaders and longtime friends of the pope expressed concern for his health but confidence that his illness would not deter him from carrying out his mission.<\/p>\n Pope Leo underwent surgery Oct. 13 at Rome\u2019s Gemelli hospital to remove the lower lobe of his right lung after medical tests detected a suspicious growth that was later confirmed to be cancerous. The removed tissue was diagnosed as adenocarcinoma, a type of cancer that develops in specialized glandular cells.<\/p>\n His first night in the hospital passed peacefully, and doctors conducted blood tests and a chest X-ray as scheduled on his first day of recovery, according to Vatican communiques released Oct. 14.<\/p>\n \u201cThe results confirm a normal post-operative course: the values are within the expected range for the type of procedure performed,\u201d the Vatican said in an afternoon announcement relaying the doctors\u2019 findings.<\/p>\n The pope also began respiratory therapy, walked around his hospital room and ate, the Vatican said.<\/p>\n Augustinian Father John Lydon, a longtime friend of Pope Leo, told Catholic News Service Oct. 14 that he was concerned for the pope\u2019s health but had confidence in his doctors and was praying that chemotherapy would not be necessary.<\/p>\n Father Lydon, who served as a missionary in Peru for 10 years alongside the pope, was in Rome for Villanova University\u2019s International Sustainability Conference as director of the university\u2019s Mother Cabrini Institute on Immigration.<\/p>\n He said the diagnosis would not change the convictions that guide Pope Leo\u2019s leadership, particularly his commitment to the poor and to synodality, a process of listening and dialogue within the Church.<\/p>\n \u201cI think all those things are kind of part of who he is, and I don\u2019t think any medical issue changes that,\u201d Father Lydon said Oct. 14. \u201cWe\u2019re hopeful that the medical thing will just quickly be pushed aside, but concerned, obviously.\u201d<\/p>\n Augustinian Father Peter Donohue, president of Villanova University, also told CNS during the conference that he did not expect Pope Leo\u2019s medical condition to diminish his determination to pursue his priorities.<\/p>\n \u201cKnowing what he\u2019s like, I don\u2019t think they\u2019ll stop him,\u201d Father Donohue said.<\/p>\n Recalling Pope Leo\u2019s years as prior general of the Augustinian order, Father Donohue described a leader who remained composed even when confronting disagreements or difficult decisions.<\/p>\n He said the pope was not afraid to speak out when he believed something was wrong and needed to be corrected, but he never appeared rattled.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think this is going to affect the way he does things,\u201d Father Donohue said. \u201cHe\u2019s got a great physical strength in terms of the man he is, but he also has a great spiritual strength,\u201d he said. \u201cHe will manage it.\u201d<\/p>\n Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said Pope Leo<\/a> has offered an example of faith and courage in the face of illness.<\/p>\n \u201cHe shows himself as a man of great faith and putting himself in the hands of God in a very simple and profound way,\u201d he told CNS Oct. 14.<\/p>\n \u201cAs members of our own families face illnesses, sometimes we don\u2019t know, what can we do, but there\u2019s a sense that it\u2019s in God\u2019s hands, and I think that\u2019s the example the Holy Father gives us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told CNS Oct. 14 that he was \u201cas surprised as anyone else\u201d to learn of Pope Leo\u2019s diagnosis and need for surgery.<\/a><\/p>\n He called on Catholics to pray for the pope and to remember that \u201cGod is with us and God has a plan,\u201d urging them \u201cjust not to lose hope, not to doubt God\u2019s providence and his plan,\u201d because he called Pope Leo to the pontificate.<\/p>\n The diagnosis and removal of a section of his lung have also raised questions about the pope\u2019s upcoming apostolic journey to South America, scheduled for Nov. 6-17, with stops in Uruguay, Argentina and Peru.<\/p>\n The Vatican has not announced any changes to the trip, which remains on the pope\u2019s official schedule.<\/p>\n Father Donohue said many people in Peru, where Pope Leo spent much of his ministry as a missionary, priest and bishop, are eagerly awaiting his return. He said he believed the pope would be reluctant to disappoint them by canceling the visit.<\/p>\n \u201cI will assure you if they say it\u2019s okay, he\u2019s going to be on that plane,\u201d Father Donohue told CNS.<\/p>\n The pope\u2019s cancer diagnosis and treatment come as another member of his family is undergoing treatment for the disease.<\/p>\n Deborah Prevost, the wife of the pope\u2019s oldest brother Louis Prevost, told CBS News Oct. 13 that her husband has multiple myeloma, a cancer affecting plasma cells, a type of white blood cell.<\/p>\n She said her husband was first diagnosed in 2017 and underwent treatment in 2019, including a stem cell transplant and participation in a clinical trial, which kept the cancer at a \u201cvery low level.\u201d However, he \u201cfell out of remission\u201d three months ago, she said, and is undergoing treatment again.<\/p>\n The pope\u2019s parents also had histories of cancer. His mother, Mildred, died in 1990 at age 78 after being diagnosed with cancer and undergoing chemotherapy. His father, Louis, died in 1997 of colon cancer and heart disease.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n