Cardinal Angelo Scola of Milan, Italy, talks with German Cardinal Walter Kasper after an event marking the 50th anniversary of the Synod of Bishops in Paul VI hall at the Vatican Oct. 17. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Vatican journalists were greeted this morning in the Vatican press office with an emphatic denial that Pope Francis has a benign brain tumor. The report, from the Italian national newspaper Quotidiano Nazionale, contained titillating details, such as a hushed helicopter ride from Vatican City to Tuscany where a Japanese surgeon is reported to have met with the Holy Father. A second denial was published on the Vatican website.