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Hello, I'm Gina Christian, and you're listening to our OSV newscast for Wednesday, October 14th, 2026. Let's catch you up on the Catholic news of the day, and here we go. Pope Leo XIV underwent more medical exams and started respiratory physical therapy today, following the lung cancer surgery yesterday that removed the lower lobe of the Pope's right lung. In an October 14th medical update, the Vatican said the Pope had routine postoperative blood tests and a chest x-ray, with results showing a normal recovery. Doctors said the Pope has begun respiratory physical therapy, started walking around his hospital room, and he's resumed a regular diet. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told reporters the Pope was in good spirits. He also revealed that Pope Leo had a series of tests, including a robotic bronchoscopy, CT scan, and PET scan, which led doctors to recommend yesterday's procedure. The Pope remains at Rome's Gemelli Hospital, and he's expected to stay for at least a week. All papal audiences through October 20th have been canceled. According to Vatican News, post-operation tests will be conducted on the removed tissue in the coming days. Full biopsy results could potentially take one to two weeks. Medical experts who are not involved in the Pope's care told OSV News the findings from the Pope's lymph nodes could help determine any future treatment needs. The Vatican said there are currently no changes to the Pope's planned November trip to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru. Catholic voters have soured on President Donald Trump since he returned to the White House last year. That's according to a new Pugh Research Center survey. Although Trump is not on November's ballot, his fellow Republicans are attempting to defend majorities in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Long-term election data shows voters' perceptions of a president are likely to influence their choices at the ballot box in the midterm elections. Pugh found that among all Catholics, Trump's approval rating has dropped from 47% at the beginning of his second term to 30% as of this month. Among Hispanic Catholics, it dropped from 31% to 18%, and among white Catholics from 59% to 39% over the same period. The survey also found Trump is underwater with every religious group except white evangelicals. More broadly, Pugh noted registered voters are more likely to support Democratic candidates than Republican ones across most religious groups. But Pugh found white Catholics and Hispanic Catholics divide sharply over their support for congressional Republicans and Democrats in the midterms. Among white Catholics, 50% said they would support the Republican candidate, and 32% said the Democrat, with another 18% unsure. Among Hispanic Catholics, 59% said they would support the Democratic candidate, 19% said the Republican, and 21% said they were unsure. Catholic and evangelical leaders issued an ecumenical statement yesterday as part of a joint call for compassionate immigration reform. Bishop Brendan Cahill, Chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Migration, and Reverend Walter Kim, President of the National Association of Evangelicals, are the co-chairs of the Evangelical Catholic Dialogue on Immigration. In their joint statement, the pair said that although they have doctrinal differences, they are united in our conviction that God calls us to stand both with our fellow Americans, who are experiencing economic and cultural anxieties, and with our immigrant neighbors who are facing existential challenges. The statement articulated shared principles that every human being is created with dignity, bearing God's image, and that government is responsible for protecting its citizens and providing for the common good, including the establishment and enforcement of reasonable immigration policies. They said those policies should include targeted, humane border enforcement, clear legal pathways to citizenship, and efforts to prevent the separation of families. They also highlighted risks to religious liberty presented by certain immigration enforcement efforts, saying, This right extends to all people, of all faiths and none, no matter their immigration status. Catholic leaders across the nation are continuing to express their shock and concern over the Trump administration's plans to live stream the military execution of former Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hassan. Hassan, who is now wheelchair bound, was convicted of the 2009 killing of 13 persons at Fort Hood in Texas. The attack also injured 32 others. Questions over the live streaming span military and civil law, church teaching, morality, and human rights, as well as the psychological impact of broadcasting a state-sponsored killing. Multiple bishops have issued statements of condemnation, with several describing the broadcast as barbaric and at odds with church teaching on human dignity and the inadmissibility of the death penalty. Theologian and bioethicist Charles Camossi said the move showed a failure of the pro-life movement to prevent such an act. Annie Phoenix, executive director of the Jesuit Social Research Institute at Loyola University New Orleans, said the planned live streaming would do damage to our souls. She said, we are not meant to watch the killing, the maiming, the hurting of other people. Mary Graw Leary, a former federal prosecutor and now professor at the Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law, raised questions as to the legality, as well as the efficacy of the planned live streaming. She explained that of the four main theories of punishment, which are specific deterrence, general deterrence, physical incapacitation of an offender, and retribution, none of them appear to be served by this. And finally, with Pope Leo hospitalized as he recovers from lung cancer surgery, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the newly elected dean of the College of Cardinals, presided over the closing Mass today for the Vatican's meeting on marriage and family. The Cardinal delivered a homily the Pope had prepared before his admission to Rome's Gemelli Hospital. In the text, the Pope underscored the family's central role in society, declaring that the world has no future without strong families, open to children and committed to their upbringing. The Pope stressed that parents are the first educators in love and virtue, highlighting chastity as essential to authentic human relationships, and saying marriage preparation must begin long before engagement. He drew on Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation Amoris Letitia, saying family life serves as the first school of human affection, where children learn love through both joys and struggles. Pope Leo also reaffirmed the Church's defense of life from conception to natural death, calling the family the foremost guardian of those values. During the Mass, participants in the weeklong gathering prayed for the Pope's recovery. At Pope Leo's request, the publication of the meeting's final synthesis report will be postponed until the Pope can personally review and respond to it. I'm Gina Christian. Check out the show notes for a link to our website. That's where you can find the stories in this episode, plus a whole lot more. Stay close to us as we continue to bring you updates on Pope Leo's condition. Make sure to subscribe to this podcast, give us a follow on social media and bookmark osvnews.com. Hello out there to all of our listeners around the world, and Pope Leo, we are praying for you. Thanks so much for listening and God bless.

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