His Holiness Pope Leo XIV
Apostolic Palace
00120 Vatican City State
Most Holy Father,
On behalf of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Catholic faithful of Canada, I offer Your Holiness the assurance of our heartfelt prayers following your surgery. With filial affection, we ask the Lord to grant you a full recovery and to sustain you with his peace throughout your convalescence.
Your message for this year’s World Day of the Sick called us to draw near to those who suffer with compassion and attentive care. In that same spirit, the Church in Canada accompanies you in prayer, united with you in the communion of faith and in gratitude for your ministry as Successor of Peter.
Together with the faithful throughout Canada, we entrust you to the maternal intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Health of the Sick, and to the protection of Saint Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church and of Canada. May the Lord grant you renewed strength and bless the physicians, nurses and all those entrusted with your care.
Most Holy Father, please accept this assurance of the prayers and spiritual closeness of the Church in Canada. With profound respect and filial devotion, we ask your Apostolic Blessing.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Bishop-elect of Trois-Rivières
President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
Media Release
Prayers for Pope Leo XIV
14 October 2026, Ottawa — The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops joins the faithful across Canada and throughout the world in praying for the swift and complete recovery of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV following his surgery on 13 October 2026.
According to the medical statement released by the Holy See Press Office, the operation earlier yesterday involved the removal of the lower lobe of the Holy Father’s right lung. Examination of tissue during the procedure confirmed a diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma. The surgery was completed successfully and without complications.
The Bishops of Canada express their affection and spiritual closeness to the Holy Father and their gratitude to the medical team caring for him.
Recalling his message for the 34th World Day of the Sick, we entrust the Holy Father and all those who suffer from illness to the maternal intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Health of the Sick. May they receive the care, compassion and comfort they need, and may those who accompany them be strengthened in their service.
We invite the faithful to join in the prayer offered by the Holy Father himself in that message:
Sweet Mother, do not part from me.
Turn not your eyes away from me.
Walk with me at every moment
and never leave me alone.
You who always protect me
as a true Mother,
obtain for me the blessing of the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit.
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Media requests:
Pomeline Martinoski
Director of Communications
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
Email: communications@cccb.ca
Telephone: 613-241-9461, ext. 225