Austrian cardinal to undergo surgery for prostate cancer

Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna announced he has prostate cancer, will undergo surgery in May and will be out of public view for several weeks.

"The public will survive, and I hope I will, too," the cardinal said March 22 at a news conference concluding the spring meeting of the Austrian bishops' conference.

Schonborn, 74, is president of the conference.

The cardinal told reporters that having prostate cancer "is not particularly tragic" because in most cases it is curable.

Michael Pruller, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Vienna, said doctors believed the tumor was discovered early and a complete recovery is expected.