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Hello, I'm Gina Christian, and you're listening to our OSV Newscast for Wednesday, October 21st, 2026. Let's catch you up on the Catholic news of the day. Here we go. And we begin with some very good news. Pope Leo XIV needs no further treatment following his October 13th surgery for lung cancer. In an October 21st message, the Holy See Press Office announced that Drs. Luigi Carbone and Stefano Margheritore said the final histological examinations and molecular biology tests on the material removed during the surgery confirmed the tumor was a localized lung adenocarcinoma. The doctors said that subsequent oncological evaluation confirmed that no further treatment is necessary. Moments after the Vatican released the papal health update, I spoke with Dr. Nirma Vermachenini, professor of cardiothoracic surgery at St. Louis University School of Medicine and an oncology expert. Although not part of the Pope's care team, he said that based on his experience and the Holy See statement, Pope Leo's prognosis seemed to be excellent. Now he said the Pope will simply need long-term radiographic follow-up to look for recurrence. Typically, he said that entails a regular CT scan, which uses multiple X-ray images to create a 3D composite of bones, organs, and tissue. He estimated the regular scanning intervals to range from every six months to once a year for several years. The 11th National Eucharistic Congress will be held in Indianapolis in 2029. Bishop Andrew Cousins of Crookston, Minnesota announced the news at a dinner on October 20th, and the crowd in attendance erupted into cheers and applause. The dinner at the Omniseverin Hotel in Indianapolis followed a mass at St. John the Evangelist Church. Concelebrating that mass were Bishop Cousins, who is chairman of the National Eucharistic Congress, Incorporated, and Bishop Timothy Doherty of Lafayette, Indiana, with Indianapolis Archbishop Charles Thompson as the principal celebrant. Before his announcement, Bishop Cousins spoke of the impact of the 10th Congress, which took place in Indianapolis in July of 2024. He said, Everywhere I go now, people tell me stories about how the Congress has impacted them. I really want to say thank you to the people of Indianapolis and to your role in that. According to a news release on the 2029 Congress, the impacts of the 2024 Congress have been renewed participation in Eucharistic adoration and confession, as well as greater reverence at Mass, increased confidence among clergy in preaching about the real presence and growth in parish evangelization and service. Archbishop Thompson said, We are grateful, we are honored to celebrate, to serve, and to be the host again. On October 18th, the Trump administration extended protections from deportation to people from Ukraine and Sudan, allowing them to continue to live legally in the U.S. for now. Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, grants the U.S. government the power to shield eligible migrants from deportation if they're from countries experiencing dangerous conditions such as war, disaster, or other unrest. The Trump administration has sought to end TPS for several countries, notably Haiti, which is racked by extreme levels of gang violence. At the same time, the administration recently granted an extension to El Salvador. In a written statement provided to OSV News, a spokesperson for DHS confirmed the extension without sharing a rationale, stating that an announcement on each country's TPS designation will be made at the appropriate time. And until such announcements are made, nationals of those countries present in the U.S. under TPS retain protection. David Spicer, Director of Policy and Engagement for Migration at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told OSV News on October 19th, the organization is closely monitoring the situation facing people relying on TPS without clarity on the future of their designations. He said the conference continues to urge the administration to abide by the requirements of the TPS statute, to carefully consider conditions in countries of origin and the threats of human life that could come with forcibly repatriating people, and to provide meaningful notice about the future of these designations so that families, employers, and communities can plan accordingly. In Canada, reservations about the expansion of medical assistance in dying, or MAID, expressed by former Quebec Premier Philippe Cuillard are drawing international attention. Alex Schoddenberg, Executive Director of the Ontario-based Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, and a longtime opponent of Cuillar, has called on him to do something about the legislation he helped enact. Cuillard was Premier when Quebec legalized assisted death in 2014. He served until 2018. Schadenberg said Quebec's and Canada's assisted dying laws need to be reviewed. In an October 10th interview with Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Cuillard questioned how far MAID eligibility has expanded beyond Quebec's original law, which he said was intended for people approaching death. He said he was unsure whether he would again support the legislation his government helped pass. In June of 2016, Canadian lawmakers first legalized MAID nationally for those whose death is reasonably foreseeable. Five years later, the law was amended to include those suffering from a grievous and irremediable condition whose death is not reasonably foreseeable. Without legislative change, Canada is set to expand eligibility for euthanasia on March 17th to those whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness. The Catholic Church upholds the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception until natural death. And finally, Ireland's National Synodal Assembly has signaled a strong push toward evangelization and faith formation, as delegates voted on 35 proposals shaped by the country's five-year synodal process. At an October 17th gathering in County Meath, laypeople, clergy, religious, and bishops backed measures aimed at building what Bishop Nile Call of Raffo called an evangelizing church, focused on forming intentional disciples. The highest-rated proposals included reviewing catechetical and sacramental formation, prioritizing healing, strengthening parishes as centers of faith formation, and engaging Irish society in discerning the common good. Bishop Call said the votes reflected recognition that the Irish Church, marked by secularization and the abuse crisis, must move beyond what he described as a fading cultural Catholicism. More divisive proposals involved women's inclusion and the possibility of women deacons, which drew mixed support and significant opposition. The Assembly's nonbinding recommendations will now be forwarded to Ireland's bishops for consideration. Cardinal Mario Grech, the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, addressed the delegates by video at the beginning of the conference, telling them not to measure the future of the Church simply by what is disappearing, and to discern what the Holy Spirit is bringing to birth. That's your OSV Newscast for today. I'm Gina Christian. Check out the show notes for a link to our website where you can find the stories in this episode. Make sure to subscribe to this podcast, follow us on social media, and bookmark osvnews.com. Hello, as always, to our listeners around the world. We give thanks to God for the good news about Pope Leo's health. We continue to pray. Thanks so much for listening and God bless.

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