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Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David on Wednesday called on the Filipino faithful to send Pope Leo XIV a "hug" through prayer after the leader of the Roman Catholic Church was diagnosed with cancer following his lung surgery.
In a social media post, David shared that he briefly encountered the Pope during the celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary at the Vatican.
"Last Wednesday, he (Pope Leo XIV) reached out to me with a hug. Today, I want to return that hug through prayer. And I invite you to do the same," David said.
"Let us surround our Holy Father with the warmth of our prayers, that he may feel himself embraced by the whole Church, just as he has embraced so many of us with the love of a brother," he added.
According to the Vatican medical bulletin, Pope Leo XIV has lung adenocarcinoma, a common form of cancer, with tissue tests conducted during the operation confirming what doctors had suspected from preparatory examinations.
He was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on Tuesday for surgery to remove the growth that doctors had discovered in a recent routine health check.
The surgery was successful with no complications after it lasted about 90 minutes.
READ: What we know about Pope Leo XIV's lung cancer operation
Courtesy: Pablo Virgilio David/ Facebook
David described his encounter and hug from the Pope as a "simple embrace" where a "brother quietly asking to be accompanied in prayer."
"It was only last Sunday, when he announced that he would undergo lung surgery and asked the faithful for their spiritual closeness and prayers, that I found myself remembering that embrace. And I thought, 'So that's why his hug felt that way,'" David said.
As Pope Leo XIV's recover following his surgery, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle presides the Eucharistic celebration at the Vatican on Wednesday. — VDV, GMA News