A hundred worshippers at Holy Name Cathedral bowed their heads to pray for the recovery of Chicago native Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday after the pontiff’s lung cancer diagnosis just hours prior.
“We humbly entreat you, Lord … as you have entrusted Leo with the office of shepherd, grant him always salvation and protection, together with the flock entrusted to his care,” said the Rev. Louis Cameli during Mass, which was dedicated to the health and healing of the Holy Father.
Across the Chicago area, Catholic faithful have been praying for their hometown pontiff’s convalescence after the lower section of his right lung was removed Tuesday and physicians diagnosed him with adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer.
“We need him more than ever in this moment we are living,” said Carmen Daley, 72, who attended the Mass at Holy Name. “We are praying for his health, that God will take care of him and for a speedy recovery.”
Cameli noted the Holy Father “is not only for us Catholics, but he has emerged as a very important voice for the whole world.”
Friends of the pope took heart Wednesday after doctors reported that Leo was up and walking again, resuming his regular diet and undergoing respiratory exercises, as he healed from Tuesday’s procedure.
A chest X-ray and blood tests indicated the 71-year-old pope was recovering normally, according to two physicians.
“Everyone is concerned. But most people follow the hopeful prognosis that the doctors gave,” said the Rev. John Lydon, the pope’s longtime friend and former roommate when they were missionaries together in Peru during the 1990s. “I have been praying a lot for him and a quick recovery.”
Lydon was in Rome for an international sustainability conference that Leo had also been scheduled to attend before his surgery.
The priest was surprised by the lung cancer diagnosis, noting when the Holy Father had mentioned his upcoming surgery during remarks on Sunday, “it was kind of a low-key announcement.”
“So we just thought it might be something simple,” said Lydon, who around this time last year had met with Leo in his Vatican apartment and rode alongside him in the popemobile. “It didn’t turn out to be as simple as we had hoped it would be.”
Lydon said he and the other conference attendees learned of the diagnosis late Tuesday.
“Because he’s a friend, I’m very concerned and sad,” said Lydon, who served at the Augustinian house in Hyde Park until May, when he transferred to Villanova University, his and Leo’s alma mater. “When it’s someone you personally know… it hits you differently. So in that sense, I felt very saddened by the news — but balancing it with the hopefulness that the doctors have manifested.”
Although lung cancer is the most deadly form of cancer worldwide, it can be very treatable if caught early, which appears to be the case for the pope.
Lydon noted Leo is otherwise very healthy and active; his friend and fellow Augustinian is known to be an avid tennis player and frequent exerciser as well.
Cardinal Blase Cupich asked that “people of good will everywhere, but particularly here, in Pope Leo’s hometown, join me in asking the Lord to return this son of Chicago to wellness.”
“While this is not the news we hoped for, we are heartened by the skill and optimism of his physicians and the countless prayers offered around the world for his complete recovery,” the archbishop of Chicago said in a statement. “He has much more good work to do, many more wise words to preach and many more ways to inspire others.”
The Chicago area burst in celebration after Leo’s groundbreaking May 2025 selection as pope, marking the first American pontiff in church history.
Dozens of people from the Chicago area have since met with the Holy Father at the Vatican, including Gov. JB Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and a group of students from Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy in the Lakeview neighborhood who went viral last year for hosting a mock papal conclave.
The students gathered Wednesday morning to pray for Pope Leo and sent him a care package that included handmade get-well cards and a White Sox blanket, a nod to the pontiff’s devotion to his hometown team.
The pope’s schedule has been cleared through Oct. 20 as he heals from surgery.
A group of Chicago-area clergy and religious leaders who are scheduled to visit Leo on Oct. 27 to advocate on behalf of immigrant detainees say they haven’t heard about any change of plans.
“The Vatican’s announcement of Pope Leo’s cancer diagnosis has only deepened our profound appreciation for him as the head of the global Catholic church,” the Chicago-based Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership said in a statement. “He has taken a stand for the dignity and worth of all people.”
On Tuesday, a group of a half-dozen Vatican leaders in Chicago for a conference gathered at Leo’s childhood home in south suburban Dolton to pray for him as he underwent surgery.
“We were there just giving thanks for the gift of his life and praying that God would grant him many, many more days,” said Joe Boland, chief mission officer for the Chicago-based Catholic Extension Society, which organized the pilgrimage.
The cancer diagnosis was devastating for Boland, as if the illness was discovered in a family member or other close loved one.
He recalled meeting with the Holy Father at the Vatican in May alongside his organization’s executive director, the Rev. Jack Wall, who also grew up in Dolton just seven blocks from the home of the pope.
More Top Picks Best Rangefinders Under 300 Dollars
The pontiff greeted them saying, “I heard someone is here from Dolton, Illinois. And when someone from Dolton, Illinois comes, we have to open all the doors,” Boland recalled.
“He’s been given a global mission…. But his heart is still connected to this city,” Boland added. “And that is a powerful thing to be from essentially the same place that the pope is from. We understand the unique nuances of the man and where he grew up and what the influences were in his life. We see how that shapes him in his global ministry. And that’s a privileged place for us as Chicagoans.”
The Associated Press contributed.