Messages of support and prayers for the health of Pope Francis will settle there, while he continues to be hospitalized at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome.
By Vatican News
Since the hospitalization of Pope Francis on February 14 for bilateral pneumonia, messages have invaded religious leaders, political figures, friends, faithful around the world and children hospitalized in the same hospital, struggling with their own diseases And saddened by the Pope’s health problems but happy to do it close.
One of the messages that stands out the most is addressed to his “beloved brother” by the ecumenical patriarch of Costantinople, Bartholomew I. In the handwritten letter, the Patriarch Orthodox wishes the Pope a “rapid and complete recovery” and A quick return, with “with the help of God”, “to his sacred and important duties”.
United in prayer
Another letter came from the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who called on the faithful to come together “like a family of faith, united in an urgent attraction” for the health and well-being of Pope Francis. “As a spiritual family”, the letter continues, “we are called to stand together, united in prayer and supplication”.
In neighboring Lebanon, Cardinal Béchara Boutros Pierre Raï, Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites, said that he had prayed for Pope Francis publicly and in private. “May the Lord help him and grant him healing,” he said.
The symposium of conferences of the bishops of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) also ensured “solidarity and spiritual proximity” of all the faithful of the continent.
Argentina prayers
Meanwhile, in the homeland of Pope Francis, Argentina, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Ignacio García Cuerva, appealed to prayers. “In this way,” he wrote in a letter, “we express our love for Pope Francis and ask God to grant him strength, restore his health and support him in the mission to him entrusted. “
Messages and prayers have arrived from bishops and dioceses through Latin America, notably Uruguay, Mexico, Ecuador, Chile and Peru, Nicaragua and Brazil.
Earlier this week, the presidency of the Latin American episcopal council and the Caribbean (CEM), led by Cardinal Jaime Spengler, Archbishop of Porto Alegre (Brazil), expressed the affection and proximity of Pope Francis in a letter. “We pray for you, so that you can feel the Lord’s strength and consolation and that he can give you a lot of patience,” reads the letter.
Before the festival of the president of Saint-Pierre on February 22, Cardinal Jaime Spengler, president of the CNBB and the Episcopal Council of Latin America (CEM), encouraged the faithful to include a special prayer intention during the mass: ” Lord God, your servant, Pope Francis, has become for us “a witness to the sufferings of Christ”. »»
In Canada, prayers are proposed for “the complete recovery of the Holy Father as it continues to direct the Church with courage and generosity of mind”. Bishop William McGrattan of Calgary, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), invited individuals, families, parish communities and Catholic movements to join prayer. “May the Lord, by the intercession of Notre-Dame,” he wrote, “grants him renewed strength, health and energy while he continues his vocation to serve the Church as that successor of Pierre and the vicar of Christ on earth. ”
The Bishops of the United States also published a special prayer for Pope Francis on their website
Similar feelings are shared by Catholic communities across Asia. In the Philippines, Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, the president of the episcopal conference (CBCP), wrote to the faithful asking for “prayers for his healing and his recovery in this difficult period”.
Chinese Catholics are also gathering in prayer and fasting for the complete recovery of Pope Francis. The website Xinde.org,, A reference point for the continental Chinese community, is currently publishing updates to the Holy See on the health of the Pope and invited the faithful on Friday to say a special prayer.
António Guterres (one): Pope Francis is important for the whole world
World leaders have also joined the choir of good wishes and support. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited the pope at the hospital on Wednesday, February 19.
Friday, the secretary general of the United Nations António Guterres spoke with the secretary of state of the cardinal of Cardinal Pietro Paroline, secretary of state of Saint for the whole world.
Speaking during an event in Bologna Italy, Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, president of the Conference of Italian bishops (CEI), expressed his optimism about the state of the Pope, saying that the latest updates suggest that “We are heading in the right direction” towards “a complete recovery”, which, he added, “we hope that will come to you soon. “”
Friday evening, the medical team of Pope Fracis said that his condition was not deadly and that he was sitting straight on a chair, working and joking as usual, but warned that he was not out danger and will have to stay in hospital for at least another week. In his last note, the Holy See press office said that the Pope had had a night of resolution.