Faith

Pope Leo XIV cancels audience with 'Church of the Sheaves' gathering as he recovers from surgery

Pope Leo XIV has cancelled his scheduled audience with participants of the first "Church of the Sheaves" mission conference in Rome, as the 71-year-old pontiff continues recovering from Oct. 13 lung surgery.

Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, secretary of the Vatican Dicastery for Evangelization, informed attendees on Thursday, Oct. 22, that the audience planned for Saturday, Oct. 24 would not take place, and asked the participants to pray for the Pope's health and strength.

The conference, meeting at the Pontifical Urbaniana University, brings together scholars, Church leaders and pastoral workers to discuss mission as a reciprocal relationship. The first gathering of the initiative aims to improve missionary training and encourage collaboration between churches in the Global North and the Global South, and addresses how Catholic communities can respond to migration, demographic changes and new pastoral realities.

The initiative's name draws from Psalm 126 — "Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy" — and the generations of missionaries who carried the Gospel to Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Sources: ACI Africa (Oct 22, 2026); Catholic Intelligence (Oct 22, 2026).

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