Top Vatican official says pope’s cancer diagnosis a ‘game-changer’ for the papacy

ROME (AP) — Even though Pope Leo XIV is recovering well from lung cancer surgery and is going ahead with a big trip to Latin America next week, the diagnosis is “a bit of a game-changer” for the Vatican and Leo’s still-young papacy, a top Vatican official said Tuesday.

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s foreign minister, said there had been a temptation to think that Leo was a “Superman, a Superpope” after he was elected in 2025 and “hit the ground running” following the drawn-out illness and death of Pope Francis.

“The fact that he has fallen ill with, in many ways, one of the most common illnesses of our age means that he is a poor mortal like the rest of us. And I think that that is going to change how we see him and possibly how he sees himself as well,” Gallagher told reporters at the Italian foreign press association.

“Even if the operation has gone well, and everybody (says) there are grounds for considerable optimism, I think it is a bit of a game-changer at the same time,” Gallagher said.

Leo, 71, had the lower lobe of his right lung removed Oct. 13 after doctors found a tumor, later diagnosed as adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer. Subsequent tests indicated no further treatment is necessary, and Leo has been slowly resuming his daily activities.

The Vatican this week confirmed Leo would go ahead with his planned Nov. 6-17 trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, without any changes to the program. The published trip itinerary is challenging even for a healthy pope, with a dozen flights and two helicopter rides covering 31,000 kilometers (19,000 miles), the longest of Leo’s pontificate.

Asked why Leo didn’t postpone the trip so he could recover further, Gallagher said simply that the pope clearly wanted to go. Leo spent two decades as a missionary priest in Peru, where he has citizenship, and has made clear his close attachment to its people and his former diocese of Chiclayo.

“All of the medical advice is very positive, from a clinical point of view, so he feels he can go,” he said.

A trip to the US on the horizon

Gallagher, a British veteran of the Vatican’s diplomatic service, also predicted that the Chicago-born Leo would in the “not-too-distant future” visit his native United States. But he said the outcome of next month’s midterm elections might influence whether the trip comes in 2027 or later.

The Vatican generally tries to avoid papal trips to countries in the throes of national election campaigns to avoid allowing the governing powers to use the pope for political benefit. U.S. presidential elections are scheduled for November 2028.

Preliminary discussions on an eventual U.S. trip have included timing it to coincide with the U.N. General Assembly gathering in the fall, or alongside a possible stop in Mexico, though Gallagher stressed that no firm plans are in place.

“He’s, I think, quite keen to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe at some point,” Gallagher said, referring to the immensely popular pilgrimage destination where past popes have visited.

Gallagher also said it was “highly likely” that Leo would travel to Australia in 2028 to close out a big church meeting in Sydney, the International Eucharistic Congress. Other big trips expected are to South Korea in August 2027 for World Youth Day.

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.