Video taking off 14x its usual first day

Pope Leo XIV's lung cancer diagnosis, seen from his hometown

Mary Ann Ahern's report moves from Rome's Gemelli Hospital to Holy Name Cathedral, where a Chicagoan says the pope knows these streets.

Channel:

NBC Chicago Story of October 15, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 53,129 views a day, 14 times a normal first day on this channel (3,866).

Pope Leo XIV diagnosed with lung cancer after surgery

Things we can learn from the video

Press to jump

0:00Stefan Holt announces Pope Leo's lung cancer diagnosis after surgery to remove a lobe of his right lung.
0:20Mary Ann Ahern reports that doctors expected the diagnosis from testing before the operation.
0:36Prayer vigils at Fatima in Portugal, and Chicagoans react outside Holy Name Cathedral.
1:00The Vatican says the surgery took about 90 minutes, video-assisted, and found lung adenocarcinoma.
1:21Dr. Seth Krantz explains why removing a lung lobe is often the standard treatment.
3:09Ahern cites an 80 to 90 percent favorable prognosis for early-stage cancer.

For most newsrooms, a pope in the hospital is foreign news. For NBC Chicago it is also a hometown story. Outside Holy Name Cathedral, a woman explains why: "He grew up in Chicago and he knows these streets as well as, you know, our community does."

Her words sit at the center of Mary Ann Ahern's report on Pope Leo XIV, who was recovering after doctors in Rome removed a lobe of his right lung and diagnosed cancer. Anchor Stefan Holt opens with the plain fact, and Ahern adds that doctors had expected the diagnosis from earlier testing.

Citing the Vatican press office, Ahern reports that the operation took about 90 minutes, used a video-assisted technique and identified lung adenocarcinoma. Dr. Seth Krantz, head thoracic surgeon for Endeavor Health, explains that removing a section of the lung "is often the standard." Monsignor Ken Velo of DePaul University says he knew at once the pope would be on the 10th floor at Policlinico Gemelli, the floor that holds the papal suite.

The report also shows prayer vigils at the Our Lady of Fatima shrine in Portugal, and notes that Cardinal Blase Cupich is already in Rome as family members travel there.

About 53,000 people watched in the first day, and the comment section moved far faster than the channel's usual handful. Most comments are prayers and wishes for recovery; one viewer describes having had the same surgery in Chicago years ago.

Ahern's coverage continues in a follow-up, in which the Vatican says the pope is "progressing normally."

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What viewers say

I wish him fast recovery. Prayers for his health!
@martynewportSee it on YouTube
God bless the Pope; I'm very sorry to hear this news.
@amateursleuth2026See it on YouTube
God bless you Pope Leo ❤
@susannerubalcava243See it on YouTube

Public comments from the video's page on YouTube