Richardson congregation sends prayers to Pope Leo after cancer diagnosis

Pope Leo has officially been diagnosed with lung cancer. Yeah, the news came hours after he underwent surgery on his lungs. Alex Boyer is live this morning in Richardson with an update. Alex. Hey, guys. Good morning. You know, the 71-year-old American pontiff is now recovering from that surgery. And I can tell you that his doctors say that there were no complications and added that further treatment may not be needed for cancer at this moment. Now I can tell you leaders here and parishioners are sending their prayers to Rome. Bishop Edward Burns led a rosary last night here at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Richardson and shared his prayers with worshipers for Pope Leo. In a statement, Bishop Burns called it a challenging moment in Pope Leo's life and ministry and invited all of the faithful in the Diocese of Dallas to unite in prayer. Now, Pope Leo was diagnosed with lung cancer and had part of his right lung removed during what the Vatican called a successful surgery on Tuesday. The tests during his 90-minute operation confirmed that Pope Leo had the most common type of non-small cell lung cancer. Doctors will also test his lymph nodes to be sure that the disease has not spread. This morning, several questions remain about the pontiff's future. Did it spread? What size was it? And how metabolically active it was? Those are the questions we're waiting for the answer for, but it looks like they got it all out. The prognosis is really excellent. Depending on size, if it's under three centimeters, it can be as good as 90% or more. And especially since he appears to be in good health and reportedly not a smoker, all of that will help. The Vatican added that everything suspicious was removed and so far there's no mention of chemotherapy, but results of a biopsy are expected today. The Vatican said that Pope Leo regained consciousness normally and returned to his room at Rome's Gemelli Hospital, where he asked for dinner. Now, Pope Leo is expected to spend at least a week in the hospital recovering. At this point, it's unclear whether or not he will be healthy enough to make his much-anticipated trip to South America next month. Live in Richardson, I'm Alex Boyer for Good day.