MILWAUKEE — Pope Leo XIV, the Catholic Church's first American pope, was diagnosed with a common form of lung cancer Tuesday and underwent surgery to remove a growth from his lung that was discovered during a recent health checkup, the Vatican announced.
The 71-year-old pontiff, who calls Chicago home, is well respected by the more than 1 million Catholics across Wisconsin.
At the Church of the Gesu on Marquette University's campus, the bells tolled and prayers were said for the church's highest leader. Father Tim Kennedy, a priest at the church, said the pope's surgery was a cause for concern.
"Any time anyone in their 70s is going into surgery, you're concerned," Kennedy said.
During Tuesday's Mass, the prayers for the Pope took on a different meaning.
"In our tradition we rely very heavily on faith and reason and so we trust deeply on what medical science can do and if the pope his medical team and his advisers say this is a preventative procedure we take their word for it and hope the team is at their best," Kennedy said.
The news weighed heavily on visitors at Holy Hill Basilica.
Mark Sweet, a visitor at Holy Hill, shared his thoughts on the pontiff.
"I think he's an awesome person, I'm from Chicago myself, I think he's done a great job as pope so far," Sweet said. "If it's God's will he will continue to do good and try to make this world just a little bit better,"
Michael-Joseph Paris, Prior of Holy Hill, offered his perspective on the pope's role.
"He's such a good example for us as an American who can just be a bridge for everyone in the world, and he can be a real man of unity, and just pray that he can continue on that path," Paris said.
Back at Marquette, Kennedy said seeing the faith's leader go through this can be an example for those around the world.
"For the Holy Father to very publicly go through that can send a really powerful signal to everyone, how do we deal with these kind of difficult circumstances in our life," Kennedy said.
While his prayers are with the pope, Kennedy said faith can be spread elsewhere as well.
"There's many people around the world who are in need of our service and need of our prayers and I think that's where the holy father would want our attention to be," Kennedy said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
