The tumor without veils, Leone changes the pace of communication

Leo XIV changes the pace of Vatican communication. The illness was communicated by himself to the Angelus and, if he did not go into medical detail, he nevertheless offered precise information making it clear the type of medical problem he was facing. Then he decided to update journalists, and through them the world, with understandable and, as far as possible, transparent bulletins.

Confirmation came in the first bulletin after the operation, in which the word 'adenocarcinoma' appeared in clear letters: therefore it is no longer a taboo to say that the Pope has a malignant tumor, after decades in which the health of Popes was one of the most mysterious things in the world. We are certainly not provided with precise information on every detail, and Leone's entourage still tries to protect his privacy, but it is clear that something has changed and that it is the American Pope who wants it that way.

Furthermore, he is the first Pope of the so-called 'doorsteps', the brief meetings with journalists, for a period held every Tuesday evening outside the Castel Gandolfo residence. As well as the responses on papal flights, not only during the classic final press conference of the trip, but also in the greetings with the various correspondents. Prevost also inaugurated in the Vatican, with an imprint of modernity, a more widespread use of the English language, perhaps not only because it is his mother tongue but also because it remains among the most widespread and understood in the world. And therefore, faced with such important news for his life which, considering the role, has repercussions in the world, he established the communication key: clear, concise, transparent. However, without indulging in too many details, only the essential ones, because his style remains reserved and contrary to too much speculation and morbidity.

All this is happening, among other things, in a sort of interregnum in Vatican communication. The prefect of the Dicastery, Paolo Ruffini, is about to leave his post at the end of the month, while Maria Montserrat Alvarado, the first lay woman to lead a dicastery of the Roman Curia, will arrive on November 1st. The 'baptism' was supposed to be the trip to South America but the new prefect will instead have to manage this new situation which changes the perception of the pontificate somewhat.

The Secretariat of State also plays an important role. Managing the crowded Vatican press room with journalists from all over the world is director Matteo Bruni who shuttles between Via della Conciliazione and the tenth floor of the Gemelli for medical updates. What is possible, in a state where everything is, and ultimately remains, completely different from the rest of the world. But light years compared to when, even the causes of death of the Popes, there remained an aura of mystery such as to fuel real detective stories.