Bishop Michael Curry Battling Prostate Cancer Months After Royal Wedding

American Episcopal Church presiding bishop Michael Curry, who made an impression with his sermon at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding in May, announced on Wednesday that he has been battling prostate cancer for the past several months, after being first diagnosed with the disease during a routine check-up earlier this year.

“After a variety of tests, consultations, and conversations with my wife and daughters, I decided on a surgical treatment course,” said Curry, in a letter published by the Episcopal Church and quoted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“I am happy to say that the prognosis looks very good and quite positive. I have spoken with several others who have gone through this, and who have offered both encouragement and helpful advice. I will be in the hospital for at least a day, then at home to recuperate.”

Curry’s letter also confirmed that he will be undergoing surgery next Tuesday and will likely spend the next four to six weeks recuperating from the procedure. The bishop, who is scheduled for an appearance for Atlanta’s Day1 Media Ministry on September 6, added that he does not expect his schedule to change significantly despite his battle with prostate cancer.

While he had been recognized previously as the American Episcopal Church’s first African-American presiding bishop, Michael Curry became a familiar name to many people around the world when he delivered his sermon at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding two months ago. As noted by NPR, Curry’s sermon combined passages from the Bible with quotes from Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches and themes based on social justice and civil rights, as he encouraged those in attendance to “discover the redemptive power of love.”

Prince Harry and Meghan's Wedding Bishop Michael Curry Fighting Cancer https://t.co/3emD4yte2s

— TMZ (@TMZ) July 26, 2018

Looking back on the royal wedding one month after he gave his sermon, Curry told Us Weekly in June that he was impressed by the relationship Harry and Meghan shared with each other, despite the fact he didn’t know them personally prior to their wedding. He said that it was a “real blessing” to speak at the event, adding that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s union was one that brought the world together in more ways than one.

“Their love for each other brought two countries together, in Great Britain and the United States. They brought people of different religious perspectives and different religions together. They brought people of different political persuasions, people of different sexual orientations, people of different classes, people of different races, people of different nations.”

According to the National Cancer Institute, prostate cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death among men in the U.S., and while most people who develop the disease do not die of it, the condition affects about one out of five American men, mostly in older age.