Pope Leo XIV’s older brother, Louis Prevost, has confirmed that he is also battling cancer as the pope recovers from Tuesday’s surgery.

Speaking on Newsmax, Prevost said that he had multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that affects bone marrow, and was diagnosed in 2017.

He revealed that he is part of a CAR T-cell clinical trial and received new cells on Monday. He also said that he and Leo both had a positive attitude which was helping with their health scares.

“I think my positive attitude and his positive attitude have gone a long way towards keeping me alive and here on Earth and relatively healthy,” he said.

“And the same thing will be with him,” he added.

Prevost said he had not spoken directly with the pope but received a positive update on the surgery which removed cancerous mass from Leo’s lung on Tuesday.

“I got a message from his right hand that he was out of surgery, awake, feeling good, and was in no pain,” he said. “So, as far as I know thus far, he’s in good shape, in good hands.”

“They caught it early enough, and he’ll be able to heal from the surgery and go on with his papal ministry,” he added.

Prevost’s wife, Deborah, also confirmed that the pope’s brother had cancer, speaking on CBS News.

She said that Prevost had “fallen out of remission” three months ago. Before that, he had kept the cancer at a “very low level” following treatment in 2019 that involved a clinical trial and stem cell treatment.

She said the family was “going through a lot” but was optimistic that Leo’s cancer was at an early stage.

A positive update

On Wednesday, the day after Leo’s surgery, the Holy See Press Officer released a statement on the pope’s condition from Dr Luigi Carbone and Professor Stefano Margaritora, the head of Thoracic Surgery at the hospital who performed the operation alongside the medical team.

“This morning, the Holy Father underwent the blood tests and chest X-ray scheduled after surgery. The results confirm that his postoperative recovery is progressing normally: the values are within the expected range for the type of operation performed,” the statement read.

“The Holy Father has undergone respiratory physiotherapy and has begun walking around his room. He has resumed eating normally and had breakfast and lunch,” it added.

The Vatican said the successful surgery was approximately 90 minutes long and had no complications.

The Vatican also said that doctors were waiting on further test results before deciding on further treatment.

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