Pope Francis has asked Catholics to pray for him as he continues to be treated in the hospital for double pneumonia.
The pontiff was unable to give the usual Angelus prayer in person for the second consecutive Sunday.
However, in a recent message, he stated that he was “confidently continuing” his hospitalization in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital and “carrying on with the necessary treatment.”
The statement comes after the Vatican stated on Saturday that the 88-year-old’s condition remains “critical.”
In his statement, released on Sunday, the Pope praised the hospital’s doctors and health workers, as well as those who sent messages.
“In recent days I have received many messages of affection, and I have been particularly struck by the letters and drawings from children,” he wrote.
“Thank you for this closeness and for the prayers of comfort I have received from all over the world! I entrust you all to the intercession of Mary, and I ask you to pray for me.”
The 88-year-old was sent to the hospital on 14 February after having difficulty breathing for several days.
He is especially vulnerable to lung infections because he developed pleurisy—an inflammation around the lungs—as an adult and had a portion of one of his lungs removed at the age of 21.
During his 12 years as head of the Roman Catholic Church, the Argentine has been hospitalized multiple times, including in March 2023, when he spent three nights with bronchitis.
The Pope has asked for transparency about his health; thus, the Vatican has begun to issue regular announcements. The tone and length of the announcements have varied, forcing Pope watchers to try to read between the lines.
On Saturday, the Vatican stated that while the Roman Catholic pope remained aware and spent the day in an armchair, he was “not out of danger” and was “more unwell” than he was on Friday.
They stated that the pontiff required blood transfusions due to a low platelet count, which is related to anemia, as well as a “high flow” of oxygen.
Doctors treating the Pope acknowledged last week that he was responding to treatment, but his condition was complex, and even the slightest change in circumstance may disrupt what was described as a “delicate balance.”
“He is the Pope,” as one of them put it. “But he is also a man.”
The Pope also used his message on Sunday to emphasize the third anniversary of the war in Ukraine on Monday, calling on people to remember the victims of armed violence and to “pray for the gift of peace in Palestine, Israel, and throughout the Middle East, Myanmar, Kivu, and Sudan.”.
The Pope traditionally delivers the Angelus prayer from a window in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, accompanied by a short message.
