Statue of St. Peter on St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican / Daniel Ibáñez / CNA
CNA Newsroom, Apr 4, 2025 / 06:22 am (CNA).
Pope Francis continues to show “slight improvement” in his respiratory condition as he receives ongoing medical care at the Vatican, according to the latest update from the Holy See Press Office on Friday.
According to the Vatican, the pope’s mood remains positive as his pharmaceutical, motor, and respiratory therapies continue. The Holy See also noted Sunday’s Angelus might be conducted differently compared to recent weeks, with more details expected on Saturday.
The 88-year-old pontiff has improved his respiratory function, mobility, and voice, while recent blood tests indicate a mild improvement in infection markers, Vatican officials said.
Although the pope still requires supplemental oxygen, his need for it has slightly decreased. During the day, he receives standard oxygen therapy, while high-flow oxygen is administered through nasal cannulas at night as needed.
Despite his health challenges, the Holy Father has maintained his working schedule, reported ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner.
On Wednesday, he participated remotely in the Mass by Cardinal Pietro Parolin commemorating the 20th anniversary of St. John Paul II’s death.
Vatican officials indicated it remains premature to discuss the pope’s participation in upcoming Holy Week celebrations.
The next official press briefing on the pope’s condition is scheduled for Tuesday, April 8.
The Vatican has released the planned Holy Week schedule, which begins with Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square on April 13 at 10 a.m. local time.
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Pope Francis’ general audience of April 19, 2023. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Vatican City, Apr 19, 2023 / 04:15 am (CNA).
Even when not called to the particular grace of martyrdom, every Christian is called to testify to Christ through his or her life, Pope Francis said on Wednesday.
At his weekly audience with the public April 19, the pope quoted the Church’s dogmatic constitution, Lumen gentium, to highlight a Christian’s obligation to be a positive witness of the faith in both life and death.
“Although martyrdom is asked of only a few,” he said, “‘nevertheless all must be prepared to confess Christ before men. They must be prepared to make the profession of faith even in the midst of persecutions, which will never be lacking to the Church, in following the way of the cross.’”
Pope Francis’ general audience of April 19, 2023. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Persecution of Christians, he added, is not just a thing of the past.
“The martyrs show us that every Christian is called to the witness of life, even when this does not go as far as the shedding of blood, making a gift of themselves to God and to their brethren, in imitation of Jesus,” he said.
Pope Francis spoke to a large crowd of people in St. Peter’s Square on a sunny, spring morning.
The current theme of his Wednesday general audiences is “the passion for evangelization.” On April 19, he focused on the topic of martyrdom and the witness it gives others about the Christian faith.
“Today we will turn our attention not to a single figure, but to the host of martyrs, men and women of every age, language, and nation who have given their life for Christ, who have shed their blood to confess Christ,” he said. “After the generation of the Apostles, they were the quintessential ‘witnesses’ of the Gospel.”
Pope Francis’ general audience of April 19, 2023. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
“The word ‘martyr’ derives from the Greek ‘martyria,’ which indeed means witness,” he explained.
Francis emphasized that the Christian martyrs are not individual heroes who acted alone, but are like a “ripe and excellent fruit of the vineyard of the Lord, which is the Church.”
“Christians,” he said, “by participating assiduously in the celebration of the Eucharist, were led by the Spirit to base their lives on that mystery of love: namely, on the fact that the Lord Jesus had given his life for them, and therefore that they too could and should give their life for him and for their brothers and sisters.”
He called Catholics to remember the many men and women who have given their lives for Christ over the more than 2,000-year history of the Church, especially the numerous martyrs of modern times.
Pope Francis’ general audience of April 19, 2023. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Quoting again from Lumen gentium, he said, “the Second Vatican Council reminds us that ‘the Church considers martyrdom,’ this disciple, ‘as an exceptional gift and as the fullest proof of love. By martyrdom a disciple is transformed into an image of his Master by freely accepting death for the salvation of the world — as well as his conformity to Christ in the shedding of his blood.’”
Pope Francis concluded his message by naming some of the Church’s recent martyrs in the country of Yemen, including three Missionaries of Charity — Sister Aletta, Sister Zelia, and Sister Michael — who were shot dead in July 1998 while returning home from Mass.
He also recalled the March 2016 attack on the Missionaries of Charity in Aden, Yemen, in which a gunman killed 16 people, including Sister Anselm, Sister Marguerite, Sister Reginette, and Sister Judith. The Catholic missionary priest Father Tom Uzhunnalil was kidnapped in the attack. He was released 18 months later in September 2017.
Pope Francis’ general audience of April 19, 2023. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
The pope pointed out that some of the people killed in the 2016 shooting were Muslims who collaborated with the Missionaries of Charity in their work.
“It moves us to see how the witness of blood can unite people of different religions,” he said. “One should never kill in the name of God, because for him we are all brothers and sisters. But together one can give one’s life for others.”
“Let us pray, then, that we may never tire of bearing witness to the Gospel, even in times of tribulation,” Francis said. “May all the martyr saints be seeds of peace and reconciliation among peoples, for a more humane and fraternal world, as we await the full manifestation of the Kingdom of Heaven, when God will be all in all.”
Vatican City, May 15, 2018 / 01:00 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican published an instruction Tuesday aimed at applying norms established in Pope Francis’ 2016 apostolic constitution on women’s contemplative orders, which emphasizes the need… […]
Relatives, friends and comrades of Ukrainian soldier Eduardo Trepilchenko, who was killed on the Eastern front battling the Russian invasion , attend his funeral at St Michael’s Cathedral on May 25, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. / Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 5, 2022 / 07:04 am (CNA).
Pope Francis condemned the war in Ukraine after Russia’s ongoing invasion of that country reached the 100-day mark.
“On Pentecost, God’s dream for humanity becomes reality; fifty days after Easter, peoples who speak different languages encounter and understand one another,” the 85-year-old pontiff said. “But now, 100 days after the beginning of the armed aggression against Ukraine, the nightmare of war, which is the negation of God’s dream, has once again befallen humanity.”
He spoke to the crowd in St. Peter’s Square in Rome following the Regina Coeli, a Marian prayer said during the Easter season, on June 5. Thousands of faithful gathered on the feast of Pentecost with colorful banners and flags to pray with the pontiff on the hot, summer-like day.
Every year, the feast of Pentecost marks the end of Easter and recalls when the Holy Spirit comes upon the apostles, Mary, and the first followers of Christ.
Before the Regina Coeli, Pope Francis asked the joyful crowd — young, elderly, religious, and families from around the world — to repeat the prayer: “Come Holy Spirit, remind me of Jesus, enlighten my heart.”
During his address, he urged world leaders to unite against war and work toward solutions.
“And while the fury of destruction and death rampages and the conflicts rage on, fuelling an escalation that is increasingly dangerous for all, I renew my appeal to the leaders of Nations: do not lead humanity into ruin, please!” he pleaded. “Let true negotiations take place, real talks for a ceasefire and for a sustainable solution.”
He added, “Let the desperate cry of the suffering people be heard — we see this every day in the media — have respect for human life and stop the macabre destruction of cities and villages in the east of Ukraine.”
June 3 marked 100 days since the beginning of Russia’s invasion that has left thousands dead. The United Nations estimates that nearly 7 million people have fled Ukraine following Russia’s invasion, with many more displaced or stranded within Ukraine.
Pope Francis, an outspoken advocate for the Ukrainian people, has expressed a desire to meet with Vladimir Putin in Moscow and to travel to Ukraine when the “right time” comes.
On Sunday, the pontiff encouraged, “Let us continue, please, to pray and to strive tirelessly for peace.” You can watch the pope’s full address in the video below.
Pope Francis also thanked God for a recently renewed truce between the Government in Yemen and Houthi rebels in the Yemen conflict.
He prayed for the victims of the landslides caused by torrential rains in the metropolitan region of Recife, Brazil, that have left more than 100 dead. He also expressed his closeness to fishermen suffering from increased gas prices and to all workers affected by the conflict in Ukraine.
He concluded with one last request: “I pray for you; pray for me.”
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