by BRENDAN WALSH, Editor of The Tablet religion magazine
I’ve been struck by the humility of the many medics I’ve spoken to about Pope Leo’s health in recent days. As Patrick Hudson writes in our View from Rome column this week, the Pope’s calm as he announced that he would be having surgery to remove a “nodule” in his lung at the Angelus on Sunday soothed nerves. Nodules in the lung are two a penny. But I could sense both alarm and a reluctance to speculate among lung disease specialists. Deciding on the treatment of any patient with a potentially serious condition is a collaborative effort. In Leo’s case, radiographers, oncologists, physicians, pathologists, senior nurses and thoracic surgeons will have pored over scans and biopsy reports before discussing what options and recommendations should be put to the patient. Now, after the surgical removal of the lower lobe of his right lung and a diagnosis of cancer confirmed, further specialists have joined the team, including a respiratory physiotherapist. Good medicine is an art as much as a science. Not all doctors and nurses pray, of course, but – like their patients – they all know that there is a space beyond their best efforts where they must let the cards fall where they will.