Virgilio Lorenzo Jr

Global prayers as Vatican says pope still 'critical'

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<p>VATICAN CITY, Holy See - Pope Francis&#x27;s condition &quot;remains critical&quot;, the Vatican said Sunday on his 10th day in hospital as Catholics around the world prayed for the 88-year-old&#x27;s recovery.</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3Wrcv04JUFs?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>Francis has not had another respiratory attack since suffering a prolonged episode on Saturday morning, but continues to receive &quot;high-flow&quot; oxygen through a nasal cannula, the Holy See said in an update.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/2/22/pope-suffers-respiratory-attack-condition-critical-vatican-0312">Pope suffers respiratory crisis, condition critical: Vatican</a></div><p>The Argentine pontiff was during the day given two units of concentrated red blood cells and his thrombocytopenia -- a condition that occurs when the platelet count in the blood is too low -- is stable, it said.</p><p>&quot;However, some blood tests demonstrate an initial, mild, renal failure, currently under control,&quot; the statement continued.</p><p>Francis is alert but &quot;the complexity of the clinical picture, and the need to wait for the pharmacological treatments to have some effect, mean that the prognosis remains reserved&quot;, it concluded.</p><p>The pope, the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church since 2013, was admitted to Rome&#x27;s Gemelli hospital on February 14 with breathing difficulties.</p><p>He was initially diagnosed with bronchitis but this developed into pneumonia in both lungs -- and on Saturday night, the Vatican warned for the first time that his condition was critical.</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Pc0jUQdmkEU?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>In Sunday&#x27;s update, it added: &quot;The Holy Father&#x27;s condition remains critical; however, since yesterday evening he has not presented any further respiratory crises.&quot;</p><div><strong>- Pray for me -</strong></div><p>In a message published Sunday but written in the past few days, Francis thanked hospital staff and said he had confidence in his treatment.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/2/23/in-message-pope-says-confidently-continuing-treatment-1929">In message, pope says &#x27;confidently&#x27; continuing treatment</a></div><p>&quot;I am confidently continuing my hospitalization at the Gemelli Hospital, carrying on with the necessary treatment -- and rest is also part of the therapy!&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;I ask you to pray for me,&quot; he concluded in the text published in lieu of his weekly Sunday Angelus, which he normally delivers from a window overlooking St Peter&#x27;s Square.</p><p>Well-wishers have been leaving candles outside the Gemelli, where Francis is staying in a special papal suite on the 10th floor, and where the Vatican said he took part in a mass on Sunday morning.</p><p>&quot;I am praying for him, for his health, because he is a special person for all of us,&quot; Italian teacher Ilde Zito told AFP at the hospital.</p><p>Prayers and messages of solidarity also came in from among the almost 1.4 billion Catholics across the globe, alongside other Christians and world leaders.</p><p>In the cathedral of Buenos Aires, where Francis was once archbishop, TV screens at the entrance showed images of then Jorge Bergoglio&#x27;s good works, and the priest held a special mass Sunday.</p><p>&quot;He is strong, he has always been strong, but there is nature,&quot; Hector Armando Diaz, 76, a retired sales clerk, told AFP there.</p><p>&quot;I know he is very ill and old. I hope he recovers, but it makes me sad.&quot;</p><p>In Iraq&#x27;s northern city of Mosul, a former bastion of the Islamic State group that Francis visited in 2021, at least a dozen churches also held prayers for him.</p><p>&quot;This is the least we can do to express our solidarity, love, and appreciation for this great person,&quot; said university professor Adnan Hadi.</p><p>Mexico&#x27;s President Claudia Sheinbaum offered her hopes on social media for a speedy recovery for the &quot;great humanist&quot; Francis, the first pope from the Americas.</p><div><strong>- Suffering more -</strong></div><p>In its evening update Saturday, the Vatican had also said Francis was alert and &quot;spent the day in an armchair, even if he was suffering more than&quot; the day before.</p><p>But the news of his respiratory attack and blood transfusions sparked widespread shock, and alarm.</p><p>&quot;The pope gets worse,&quot; headlined Italy&#x27;s Corriere della Sera newspaper Sunday. La Repubblica described it as the &quot;darkest day&quot; at the Vatican.</p><p>Francis&#x27;s continued hospitalization has also sparked speculation about whether he might step down.</p><p>He has always left the door open to following his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who in 2013 became the first pope since the Middle Ages to resign.</p><p>But he has repeatedly said it was not the time.</p><p>The pope maintains a punishing work schedule. He carried out a mammoth 12-day tour to the Asia-Pacific in September, but has suffered increasing health issues.</p><p>He underwent colon surgery in 2021 and an operation for a hernia two years later. He is overweight and has constant hip and knee pain, which forces him to use a wheelchair.</p><div><strong>bur-ar/jj</strong></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>Pope Francis's condition "remains critical", the Vatican said Sunday on his 10th day in hospital as Catholics around the world prayed for the 88-year-old's recovery.</p>

Pope Francis's condition "remains critical", the Vatican said Sunday on his 10th day in hospital as Catholics around the world prayed for the 88-year-old's recovery.