Local faith leaders react to Pope Leo’s lung cancer operation
PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ) – The faithful offered their best wishes to Pope Leo XIV after the Vatican revealed Tuesday evening he underwent a successful surgery to remove a part of his right lung.
The lower lobe of the pope’s lung was removed in a 90-minute surgery at a hospital in Rome. Further examination of the lobe revealed evidence of pulmonary adenocarcinoma, a common type of lung cancer, according to the Vatican’s statement.
After the operation, the Vatican said Pope Leo was resting in his room. It comes after the 71-year-old pontiff announced on Sunday doctors had discovered a nodule on his lung. He said it had been detected at a very early stage.
Catholics who were gathering at Sacred Heart Church in Palm Desert Tuesday evening for Mass and an event for a relic had largely just found out about the pontiff’s diagnosis.
Germaine Thompson, a dedicated churchgoer who has worshiped at Sacred Heart since 1968, said of the diagnosis, “He’s not alone, he’s a human being like the rest of us, and he needs the fellowship of his family right now. And that’s us, to pray for one another when we’re not feeling well.”
Father Ian Hollick, a parochial vicar at Sacred Heart, said the pope’s suffering was a lesson.
He explained, “Everyone’s going through something. To hear that the Holy Father, who seems to be closer to God, that even he’s suffering and going through something that could be deadly… that also points to his mortality. It gives us the sense that, well, we’re not that far away from God if even his pope is going through some hard times.”
The vicar added, “We have to put everything in the hands of God because it reminds us of how helpless we are. We’re all the way across the world. And you know, what can we do? Well, we can, we can we can pray for him and be a little bit more gentle, especially with our neighbors, because we have no idea what our neighbor is going through as well.”
Jane Voigts, a pastor at United Methodist Church in Palm Springs, agreed that the pope’s sickness reminded us that bad things happen to everyone.
“Sometimes we may assume that illness is because somebody did something wrong. You know, there’s that strain of thinking in the Bible. It’s not the only strain of thinking, but when bad things happen, you must have done something wrong,” she explained. “Of course, when the Pope gets sick, [it shows] we all get sick. Bad things happen to all of us. And so we’re grateful that we believe in a God that brings healing not just to our bodies, but our minds and our spirits and our relationships.”
As the pope continued to rest and recover, Father Hollick and the faithful across the globe were committed to praying for the first American pope.
“We’re all praying that he gets better and better fast because he’s such a jolt of energy and of goodness right now in the world.”
He had an open message to Pope Leo: “We don’t want to lose you, Pope Leo. We’re not ready to, and so, we’re all praying that you come back healthier and stronger and holier so that we always learn. Suffering is such a good school of love. So that when you get through this, Pope Leo, [we hope] that you can come back and teach us something about how to live.”
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