The Bishop for the Catholic Diocese of Grand Island has offered his prayers to Pope Leo XIV, following his recent diagnosis of lung cancer.
Bishop Joseph G. Hanefeldt posted on the diocese social media pages Wednesday morning, saying:
“United with the church throughout the world, let us pray for our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, and for his healing from lung cancer following his surgery yesterday. May Jesus, the Divine Physician, deliver Pope Leo from this affliction and renew him in mind, body and spirit. We entrust his healing and recovery to the powerful intercession of out Blessed Mother, Mary, that she may hold Pope Leo in her tender embrace, to obtain comfort, hope, and peace in the days to come. Please join me in praying for our Holy Father. May he experience the strength of out prayers for all that he needs.”
The Catholic Diocese of Grand Island encompasses areas north and west of Grand Island, including areas north of the Platte River.
The Holy See’s press office reported that the pope’s postoperative recovery is progressing normally, and that he was walking around his hospital room and was eating normally on Wednesday, a day after a cancerous growth was removed, alongside the lower lobe of his right lung.
Pope Leo XIV is the first American born pope, born as Robert Prevost in 1955. He was ordained a priest in 1982, and made a bishop in 2014 for the diocese of Chiclayo, in northwestern Peru. His papacy began in May of 2025.
