ANALYSIS: Could his cancer diagnosis change how Pope Leo governs the Vatican going forward?
Until the announcement of his hospitalization and lung surgery that led to the diagnosis of adenocarcinoma last week, the world took for granted that Leo XIV’s would be a broad-ranging pontificate spanning the better part of two decades, in which the Pontiff would have the opportunity to reshape and even redefine the Roman Curia, the bishops and the cardinals.
Although tests are still underway to determine the stage of cancer, initial reports from the medical team are that the Pope is recovering well from the surgery that removed the lower lobe of his right lung, and he has been cleared to proceed with his planned trip to South America from Nov. 6 to 17.
It’s true that the Pope had already proven himself to be a pope who takes his time. There have been no major reforms, no spoils system — only a few precise adjustments on some issues (technicalities of financial reform, the Vatican City State law), continuity on others (synodality and the synodal method applied to consistories, women heads of dicasteries), and even fewer high-profile appointments.
Although his recent hospitalization has introduced
