The Pontificate we now anticipate

Rome. Yesterday morning, the Pope underwent the blood tests and chest X-ray scheduled following his operation: the results are within normal limits. He underwent respiratory physiotherapy and has started walking around his room. He has also resumed his normal diet. In short, his post-operative recovery is proceeding as expected and he is in good spirits, said the director of the Vatican Press Office, Matteo Bruni. On Tuesday morning, Cardinal Pietro Parolin described the situation as ‘a bolt from the blue’. No one in the Curia was aware of the Pope’s condition. But ever since Leo XIV chose to make his delicate situation public – and, moreover, at the end of the Sunday Angelus, watched around the world – the worst-case scenario was taken for granted in the Vatican. This is precisely what the doctors set out in black and white in the first bulletin issued a few hours after the operation had concluded; the procedure had, however, lasted as long as expected (an hour and a half) and had proceeded without complications. Efforts were made to reassure the public, explaining that a lump is not necessarily malignant; professors and leading experts interviewed by television stations and newspapers called for patience, as the lesion was ‘well localised’ and at a ‘very early stage’. Officially, in short, it seemed almost trivial. Unofficially, however, the fear is that the decision to operate immediately was not strictly linked to the Pope’s desire to travel to South America in less than a month’s time, but that the situation demanded swift action. It is no coincidence, in fact, that the doctors wrote in the post-operative bulletin that adenocarcinoma had already been suspected on the basis of preliminary tests, as was subsequently confirmed by the immediate histological examination. Having stated the obvious – namely, that safeguarding one’s health is the categorical imperative – no one in the Vatican expected that, just a year and a half after Francis’s long stay at the Gemelli Hospital, the Holy See might once again find itself plunged into a climate of uncertainty. The Holy See is, as far as possible, playing down the situation: “Upon returning to his room, the Pope asked for his supper”. The statement implied that, although the procedure was not painless, the Pope had recovered well and without after-effects. They also assured that the governance of the Church would continue as usual; after all, it was also said of Francis that he had slept well the night before, was reading the newspapers and ‘working’. This time, however, the Pope walked into the Gemelli Hospital under his own steam, in what almost seemed like a pastoral visit. There was no sign of illness, either on his face or in his spirit.

But it is clear – because that is the way of the world, and indeed of the Church – that the usual questions – with the Pope in poor health – will begin to arise. Not only amongst the media and observers of Vatican affairs, but also amongst the cardinals themselves. Will the agenda change? Will he review his commitments? And what about his travels? In American politics, when a president loses control of a branch of Congress in the mid-term elections, the term ‘lame duck’ is used. When a Pope falls ill, doubts about his control over the administrative machinery multiply. It is already being claimed – albeit without any evidence – that the approval of the election of the new Dean, Cardinal Tagle, is linked to the Pope’s medical emergency. As if to say: we must prepare for a Conclave. Leo XIV has characterised his pontificate – at least in ‘internal’ terms – by his desire to restore order following Francis’s impulsive governance. An endeavour still in its infancy, barely sketched out. It remains to be seen whether the impending convalescence will alter the roadmap of a pontificate that is still far too young.