Vatican denies report pope has treatable brain tumor
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican on Wednesday dismissed an Italian media report that Pope Francis has a curable brain tumor as “unfounded and seriously irresponsible.”
Quotidiano Nazionale (QN), the newspaper which made the claim, said it stood by its story that a “small dark spot” had been detected on the 78-year-old pontiff’s brain several months ago.
The paper said it was discovered by Japanese neurosurgeon Takanori Fukushima, a world expert on skull base tumors who is partly based at the San Rossore di Barbaricina clinic near Pisa in central Italy.
According to the report, the professor and a medical team were flown by helicopter to the Vatican to examine Francis, concluding that the tumor was treatable without surgery.
Quotidiano based its story largely on the supposed account of a nurse at the clinic who reportedly saw medical notes under Francis’s real name, Jorge Mario Bergoglio.
But the Vatican’s senior spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, insisted the claims were baseless.
“The publication of completely unfounded reports on the health of the holy father by an Italian newspaper is seriously irresponsible and not worthy of attention,” Lombardi said in a statement.
“As everyone can see, the pope continues to engage in his intense activity without any interruption and in absolutely normal fashion.”
Andrea Cangini, the director of Quotidiano, said he had anticipated the Vatican reaction.
“This denial is understandable and to be expected,” he said. “We waited a long time before publishing the report in order to carry out every possible check. We don’t have the slightest doubt that it is founded.”
Pope Francis has maintained an intense work schedule throughout his two and a half years in the Vatican, eschewing the long summer breaks enjoyed by many of his predecessors.
He has looked extremely weary at times and in several interviews he has made reference, sometimes light-heartedly, to an apparent belief that he only has a few years to live. — AFP
