MANILA: Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle is set to preside over a Holy Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Wednesday (Oct 14) following Pope Leo XIV’s hospitalisation, according to the Vatican.
Vatican News, citing a briefing at the Holy See Press Office, reported that Jesuit Fr. Giacomo Costa announced changes to the Mass schedule due to the pope’s surgery.
“One change concerns the Mass scheduled for Wednesday, October 14, in St. Peter’s Square, with the meeting’s participants, including heads of Eastern Churches, Presidents of Bishops’ Conferences, married couples, and experts,” the Vatican News said.
“Pope Leo will no longer preside at the celebration but has entrusted that role to Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization and new Dean of the College of Cardinals,” it added.
Tagle’s appointment as dean of the College of Cardinals was approved by the pope on Oct. 8. He is the first Filipino and South-East Asian cardinal to assume the post.
Meanwhile, the Vatican announced that the pope had been diagnosed with lung cancer after undergoing surgery, which was successful. The Holy See said tissue examined during the operation confirmed the diagnosis of “lung adenocarcinoma.”
“After surgery, the pope regained consciousness normally and following a brief period of observation, returned to his room on the tenth floor,” the Holy See Press Office said in a separate statement. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
