Who’s in charge when the pope is unconscious and unable to govern? The pope

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Question: Who runs the Catholic Church when the pope is unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to govern? Answer: The pope. The Vatican has detailed laws, rituals and norms to transfer papal power if a pope dies or resigns. But none of them apply when he is sick or even unconscious, as Pope Leo XIV will be when he undergoes surgery Tuesday to remove a nodule on his lung. As a result, Leo remains pope and very much in charge even when he goes under general anesthesia at Rome s Gemelli hospital, where he arrived Tuesday afternoon for what is expected to be a weeklong stay. The pope’s role is universal by design The pope is the successor of the Apostle Peter, the head of the college of bishops, the Vicar of Christ and the pastor of the universal Catholic Church on Earth, according to the church’s in-house canon law. Nothing changes in his status, role or power since Leo was elected the 267th pope on May 8, 2025. The Vatican bureaucr