By Joshua McElwee
ROME, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Pope Leo's lung cancer diagnosis and surgery has affected how Catholics view his health and papacy, the Vatican's foreign minister said on Tuesday, an unusually frank assessment by one of the Church's most senior officials.
"It's a bit of a gamechanger," Archbishop Paul Gallagher told journalists at an event in Rome.
Leo, 71, had part of one lung removed in surgery earlier this month. His doctors have said the cancer was localized and had not spread, and the pope will not require further treatment.
Gallagher said that given Leo's relatively young age for a pope and his physical fitness, some Catholics had thought he was a "Superman" pope.
The illness revealed that Leo "is a poor mortal like the rest of us," said the archbishop.
"I think that is going to change how we see him and possibly how he sees himself as well," said Gallagher, a Briton who has served in his Vatican role since 2014.
POPE EXCITED ABOUT LATIN AMERICA TRIP
Leo was diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer, and doctors removed the lower lobe of his right lung in an operation on October 13.
The pope has been gradually resuming his schedule since returning to the Vatican on October 18 and has appeared energetic at public events, speaking in a firm, clear voice.
The Vatican confirmed on Monday he would go forward with a three-country, November 6-17 visit across South America, one of the most intense foreign tours arranged for a pope in decades.
"All of the medical advice is very positive ... so he feels he can go," Gallagher said in response to a question about why the pope is travelling only 24 days after his surgery.
"I think he's going on this trip very simply because he wants to go on it," said the archbishop. "It was obviously quite advanced in the planning."
UKRAINE CEASEFIRE, PAPAL VISIT TO US
Separately, Gallagher also addressed the recent ceasefire agreed by Russia and Ukraine to allow aid into the Russian-controlled Ukrainian town of Oleshky.
He said that while Leo had recently spoken with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, he did not believe the Vatican was involved in arranging the ceasefire.
"I don't think we were," said Gallagher.
He also spoke about the Vatican's ongoing agreement with China on the appointment of Catholic bishops in the communist state, and acknowledged "imperfections" with the accord.
The deal, first signed in 2018, gives Chinese officials some input into whom Leo appoints as bishops in the country.
"It's not easy, the dialogue is not easy. The imperfections of the agreement are evident, but there is a commitment to persevere in dialogue ... and that is what will continue to happen," said Gallagher.
The archbishop also said he expects Leo, the first US-born pope, to visit the United States "in the not too distant future." But he said the visit might not occur in 2027, depending on the pope's commitments.
(Reporting by Joshua McElwee, editing by Gavin Jones and Rosalba O'Brien)
