Experts weigh in, Chicago Catholics extend prayers for Pope Leo after lung cancer diagnosis

The Vatican on Tuesday announced that Pope Leo was diagnosed with lung cancer after undergoing surgery to remove a lobe of his lung.

Following the announcement, support for the pontiff has poured in as experts dive into what this means for Leo moving forward.

The signage outside of Holy Name Cathedral asks people to pray for Pope Leo. As word spread throughout the afternoon of the pope's diagnosis, several catholics stopped by and did just that.

Pope Leo went into surgery Tuesday to remove a nodule that was determined to be a common type of lung cancer. 

The Vatican says Chicago's pope was in surgery for about 90 minutes as surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung.

"For Pope Leo to have his right lower lobe removed, it's about a third of his lung capacity, or 30%. It's one of five of your lobes, but it's one of the larger ones," said Dr. James Katsis, program director for interventional pulmonology at Rush University Medical Center.

The Vatican did not say what stage of cancer Pope Leo has or if it has spread. It's unclear if any therapies will be used or what Pope Leo's next steps are. 

Most patients who have this surgery will not have any significant physical limitations afterward, according to Dr. Katsis.

"Obviously, not ever having the nodule, not having any cancer is best, but catching it early and having it resected is the best outcome one can get if they were to develop a lung cancer."

Just days ago, Leo revealed that doctors found a suspicious nodule. It was detected at a very early stage and is well contained, he said.

Outside Holy Name Cathedral, Pope Leo is in the prayers of Catholics who stopped by.

"It's stunning to hear. Let's hope the lord is with him," said Dave Di Lullo. "He's so vibrant and then to be diagnosed. Yeah, let's hope they caught in time."

"It's really sad and obviously I'm going to pray for him and hopefully he gets through this and can lead the church in the future," said Christopher Dowling.

"What do you do with the challenges that come at us in our lives?" said Father Tom Hurley. "I bet Leo will show us a beautiful example.

Now the diagnosis raises questions about how quickly Pope Leo can recover and whether or not he can maintain his demanding schedule. He has a trip planned to South America next month.