La Nazione, Oct. 21, 2015

In what it characterizes as an international scoop, Italian daily La Nazione reports that Pope Francis has a curable brain tumor, which the Vatican no doubt has been trying to keep secret. "The Pope Is Sick," is the newspaper's front page headline Wednesday, the same day the Vatican characterized the report as a "complete lie."

The paper reports that a Vatican helicopter was spotted in January near a Pisa hospital to transport acclaimed brain cancer specialist Takanori Fukushima to the Vatican to examine the 77-year-old Pope. A small curable tumor was identified, and Francis won't need surgery, La Nazione reports.

The Vatican vigorously denied the report Wednesday, calling it a "complete lie" and "irresponsible." Italian news agency ANSA confirmed that a Vatican helicopter took off from the San Rossore clinic in Pisa, but otherwise no further information is available.

Andrea Cangini, editor of the Florence-based newspaper, defended the veracity of the report, penning an article explaining the "duty" to report the news of the pontiff's health. "The right to privacy counts a bit less than the right of the public opinion to be informed," Cangini writes.