Chicago-area Catholics gathered in prayer outside Pope Leo XIV’s childhood home in Dolton as the pontiff recovered in Rome from surgery that confirmed lung cancer.
On Tuesday, Catholic residents stood outside the Dolton, Illinois, house where the Chicago-born pope grew up, offering prayers while surgeons at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital removed the lower lobe of his right lung.
The Vatican later confirmed the tissue showed lung adenocarcinoma. The roughly 90-minute operation produced no complications, and by Wednesday morning the Holy See Press Office reported that Pope Leo XIV had a “calm night.”
Breitbart News reported the local vigil drew Chicago faithful and Vatican officials visiting the area, as residents treated the news like word about a relative.
Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost, is a son of the Chicago region. He once led the Midwest Augustinian Province. That local tie turned a distant hospital update into a neighborhood concern.
Joe Boland, chief mission officer of the Catholic Extension Society, spoke for many who see both the office and the man.
"We see him as our pope, but we see him as a member of our community and a fellow Chicagoan, and because of that our prayers even more ardent today."
Father Tom McCarthy, prior provincial of the Midwest Augustinian Province the pope once led, described a wave of messages from people who work and worship with the order.
"Everyone’s praying. It’s been very wonderful."
He added that the outreach keeps coming from every direction.
"So many of our friends, those we work with, those we minister to have been sending us texts, calling us saying they’re praying for Pope Leo because they know he’s our brother."
Some of the faithful told ABC7 the cancer diagnosis hit them like news about a family member. Natalie Debartolomeis said she hopes Catholics stay united in prayer. Deanna Ludwin said her community is praying for a full recovery and pointed to the pope’s effort “to bring people together, all humans together.”
An image caption places the pope’s arrival at Gemelli Hospital on October 13, 2026. Surgery followed on Tuesday afternoon.
Surgeons removed the lower lobe of the right lung. Examination of the tissue during the operation confirmed lung adenocarcinoma, matching suspicions raised by pre-operative tests. The procedure lasted about 90 minutes. Officials said there were no complications. The pope awoke normally, spent a period under observation, and returned to a room on the tenth floor.
A localized nodule had been found during a medical examination. Further exams on the removed tissue were expected in the coming days. At press time, hospital staff had not publicly changed the plan for roughly a one-week stay.
All of the pope’s audiences had already been canceled through Tuesday, October 20. The Holy See Press Office, in a Wednesday morning note carried by Vatican News, said he had a “calm night” after surgery and that more information was expected later that day.
The vigil in Dolton did not change the medical timeline. It did show how ordinary Catholics answer bad news: they show up, they pray, and they claim their own.
Chicago’s faithful did not wait for a polished press plan. They stood at the childhood home of a pope they still call a fellow Chicagoan and asked God for healing while surgeons in Rome did their work.
In an age that often treats faith as private hobby or political prop, these neighbors did the simple thing. They prayed for a man they know as both shepherd and local son, and they meant it.
