Portuguese Episcopal Conference calls for prayer for Pope Leo XIV

A Portuguese Episcopal Conference (CEP) today wished Pope Leo XIV a rapid and full recovery, after the announcement that he would be submitted to surgery to remove a lump in the lung, appealing to prayer.

The CEP “expresses its spiritual closeness to the Holy Father and asks God to enlighten and accompany the medical team that will perform the surgical intervention and grant the Pope a quick and full recovery”, reads in the message published today on its website.

“ We invite the Christian communities in Portugal to accompany the Holy Father with their prayer, in communion and trust in the grace of God, responding to the request made by the Pope himself who, at the end of this Sunday's Angelus, entrusted himself to our prayers ", appealed.

Pope Leo XIV announced today that he would be operated on to the lung after the Angelus prayer.

“ Recently, during some control tests, the doctors detected a circumscribed nodule in my lung. It was detected in a very early and well located phase,” he told the faithful.

“ The doctors consider it appropriate to intervene and, therefore, following their advice, I decided to undergo surgery to remove it,” said the 71-year-old American Pope, quoted by the AFP and EFE agencies.

Leo added that the intervention is “already scheduled for the next days”, although without specifying the date.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni later said that the leader of the Catholic Church should be operated in the early days of the week beginning on Monday, October 12.

“ In response to the journalists’ questions, I may specify that the intervention is scheduled for the first days of next week,” Bruni said.

“ The expected postoperative hospitalization time is approximately one week,” he added, in a brief communication.

No clarification was given as to the possibility that the operation could alter the Pope's international agenda, which should travel from 6 to 17 November to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru.

This is the first health alert for Leo XIV after 16 months of intense rhythm.