{"id":137143,"date":"2025-02-25T20:26:57","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T20:26:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/thousands-gather-outside-the-vatican-to-pray-for-pope-francis-health"},"modified":"2025-03-16T23:22:11","modified_gmt":"2025-03-16T23:22:11","slug":"thousands-gather-outside-the-vatican-to-pray-for-pope-francis-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/thousands-gather-outside-the-vatican-to-pray-for-pope-francis-health","title":{"rendered":"Thousands gather outside the Vatican to pray for Pope Francis’ health"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Kenya. <\/strong><\/span>Thousands of people gathered in St. Peter\u2019s Square to pray for an ailing Pope Francis, expressing sorrow for his suffering, hope for his recovery and gratitude for his efforts to steer the Catholic Church in new directions.<\/b><\/p>\n

The 88-year-old Francis has pneumonia in both lungs and remains in critical condition despite showing a slight improvement after 11 days in the hospital. The Vatican said early on Tuesday that he had \u201cslept well, all night.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican\u2019s No. 2, led prayers for 45 minutes on a chilly, rainy night Monday, the faithful fingered rosary beads while hoping for Francis\u2019 recovery. The Vatican issued a dose of optimism earlier in the evening, delivering a more upbeat health bulletin than in recent days.<\/p>\n

Still, the mood was mostly grim in the monumental square, with many of the roughly 4,000 assembled understanding they may be in Rome for Francis’ final days. Crowds sat under umbrellas on folding chairs or stood by the vast colonnades as they reflected fondly on the pontiff\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo see him suffer hurts,\u201d said Robert Pietro, a Romanian seminarian who stood at the prayer holding a small, fragrant candle in tribute. \u201cBut we also pray in thanksgiving for what he has done for the Church.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rev. Roberto Allison, a priest from Guadalajara, Mexico, said members of his community had come together to show appreciation for \u201call that we have learned from him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stopping to deliver personal blessings to some at the end of the ceremony, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco said the crowd’s diversity \u2014 many world languages could be heard spoken \u2014 was \u201ca big sign of comfort\u201d for the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n

The Argentine pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, has been hospitalized at Rome\u2019s Gemelli hospital since Feb. 14 and doctors have said his condition is touch-and-go, given his age, fragility and preexisting lung disease.<\/p>\n

But in Monday\u2019s update, they said he hadn\u2019t had any more respiratory crises since Saturday, and the supplemental oxygen he is using continued but with a slightly reduced oxygen flow and concentrations.<\/p>\n

A couple of Catholic tourists from Chicago, who arrived holding umbrellas well before the service started, said they prayed for the pope at daily Mass earlier at St. Peter\u2019s Basilica, and decided to come back. Like many, they found it \u201chard to process\u201d they may be in Rome for Francis\u2019 final days.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one knows the day and time, but it\u2019s a historic moment nonetheless,\u201d said Edward Burjek.<\/p>\n

It felt the same for Hatzumi Villanueva of Peru. She was particularly fond of former pope St. John Paul II but said that Francis, as the first Latin American pope, \u201cdraws a bit closer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe came to pray for the pope, that he may recover soon, for the great mission he’s sharing with his message of peace,\u201d said Villanueva, who praised his empathy for migrants.<\/p>\n

Francis’ papacy has also emphasized the defense of the environment and partial openness to LGBTQ+ rights.<\/p>\n

Outside of the Vatican, Romans, pilgrims and even non-Catholics said they were offering special prayers for the hospitalized pope.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all sorry,\u201d said Raniero Mancinelli, who has tailored ceremonial clothing for Francis and the two previous popes in his shop just outside the Vatican\u2019s walls.<\/p>\n

Elisabetta Zumbo carried a 5-foot-long cross down a cordoned-off section of the street leading to St. Peter’s as she prepared to lead a group of 34 pilgrims from the northern Italian city of Piacenza. With the rain pouring down, she pledged her group would pray intensely for the pope.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a lot of emotion and a lot of sadness,\u201d Zumbo said.<\/p>\n

Nearby, a couple from London visiting St. Peter\u2019s with their son said that even though they\u2019re not Catholic, they felt close to the pontiff \u201cbeing there in his home\u201d in the monumental basilica.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Kenya<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Kenya. Thousands of people gathered in St. Peter\u2019s Square to pray for an ailing Pope Francis, expressing sorrow for his suffering, hope for his recovery and gratitude for his efforts to steer the Catholic Church in new directions. The 88-year-old Francis has pneumonia in both lungs and remains in critical condition despite showing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":137142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[8247,544,6398,9118,6381],"class_list":["post-137143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-culture-and-art","tag-africanews","tag-kenya","tag-pope-francis","tag-prayers","tag-vatican-city"],"yoast_head":"\nThousands gather outside the Vatican to pray for Pope Francis' health - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Thousands of people gathered in St. Peter\u2019s Square to pray for an ailing Pope Francis, expressing sorrow for his suff ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/thousands-gather-outside-the-vatican-to-pray-for-pope-francis-health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thousands gather outside the Vatican to pray for Pope Francis' health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Thousands of people gathered in St. Peter\u2019s Square to pray for an ailing Pope Francis, expressing sorrow for his suff ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/thousands-gather-outside-the-vatican-to-pray-for-pope-francis-health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"kenya\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-25T20:26:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-16T23:22:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2025\/02\/sm_1740504935.012687.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"538\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/thousands-gather-outside-the-vatican-to-pray-for-pope-francis-health#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/thousands-gather-outside-the-vatican-to-pray-for-pope-francis-health\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Thousands gather outside the Vatican to pray for Pope Francis’ health\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-25T20:26:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-16T23:22:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/thousands-gather-outside-the-vatican-to-pray-for-pope-francis-health\"},\"wordCount\":667,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/thousands-gather-outside-the-vatican-to-pray-for-pope-francis-health#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2025\/02\/sm_1740504935.012687.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africanews\",\"Kenya\",\"Pope Francis\",\"prayers\",\"Vatican City\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"culture and art\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/thousands-gather-outside-the-vatican-to-pray-for-pope-francis-health#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/thousands-gather-outside-the-vatican-to-pray-for-pope-francis-health\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/thousands-gather-outside-the-vatican-to-pray-for-pope-francis-health\",\"name\":\"Thousands gather outside the Vatican to pray for Pope Francis' health - 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