A makeshift shrine with devotional candles, flowers, and images of Pope Francis appears outside Rome's Gemelli hospital on Feb. 22, 2025 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
CNA Staff, Feb 23, 2025 / 14:10 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis’ condition “remains critical,” the Holy See Press Office said in a statement issued Sunday evening Rome time. However, it said, he experienced “no further respiratory crisis” since Saturday.
The statement also said the Holy Father “continues to be alert and well oriented” and is still receiving oxygen therapy “at high flows” through his nose. Since his situation is “complex,” the statement said, the pope’s prognosis “remains reserved.”
His blood platelet count remained stable, the statement continued, but some blood tests showed “initial, mild, renal failure” that was presently under control.
This morning the pope participated in Mass together with those caring for him at his 10th floor apartment set up at Gemelli Hospital in Rome, the statement said.
Also on Sunday, Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the cardinal vicar of the Diocese of Rome, celebrated a Mass for Pope Francis at the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome. The faithful prayed that the Lord would sustain the pope with his grace and fill him with strength to face his health crisis.
Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the cardinal vicar of the Diocese of Rome, celebrates a Mass for Pope Francis on Feb. 23, 2025, at the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Earlier in the day, Archbishop Rino Fisichella delivered Pope Francis’ prepared homily to over 4,000 permanent deacons gathered for a special jubilee Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica. He also delivered from his hospital room his Sunday Angelus address, where he thanked hospital staff as well as called for peace in Ukraine.
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Rome, Italy, Mar 8, 2020 / 01:30 pm (CNA).- The Diocese of Rome has canceled all public Masses until April 3 in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The announcement by the vicar general of the diocese, published Sunday evening, follows a decree by th… […]
Pope Francis smiles at pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Jan. 1, 2023, for his first Angelus of the new year. / Credit: Vatican Media
Rome Newsroom, Jan 1, 2024 / 09:47 am (CNA).
Pope Francis delivered his first Angelus of the new year on Jan. 1, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, by reflecting that the importance of Mary’s motherhood is defined by love and underscored by a quiet silence that allowed her to place Christ at the center.
“She is Mother not only because she carried Jesus in her womb and gave birth to him, but because she brings him into the light, without occupying his place,” said the pope to the nearly 35,000 faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
Pope Francis also used the occasion to appeal for prayers for the Church in Nicaragua, which has been at the center of an escalating persecution launched by the country’s president, Daniel Ortega.
“I am following with deep concern what is happening in Nicaragua, where Bishops and priests have been deprived of their freedom. I express to them, their families, and the entire Church in the country my closeness in prayer,” the Holy Father said.
“I also invite all of you present here and all the People of God to insistent prayer, while I hope that we will always seek the path of dialogue to overcome difficulties. Let’s pray for Nicaragua today.”
The priests are: Monsignor Carlos Avilés, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Managua; Father Héctor Treminio, pastor of Holy Christ Parish in Esquipulas in the same archdiocese; and Father Fernando Calero, pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Rancho Grande in the Diocese of Matagalpa.
In his Angelus reflection, Pope Francis noted that Mary’s silence is a “beautiful feature” but should not be thought of as a “simple absence of words” but rather as a feature that is “filled with wonder and adoration for the wonders that God is working.”
“In this way, she makes room within herself for the One who was born; in silence and adoration, she places Jesus at the center and bears witness to Him as Saviour,” the pope observed.
The Holy Father went on to express that this expression of maternity seen in Mary is an ideal that is also seen in our mothers who “with their hidden care, with their thoughtfulness, are often magnificent cathedrals of silence. They bring us into the world and then continue to attend to us, often unnoticed, so that we can grow. Let us remember this: love never stifles; love makes room for the other and lets them grow.”
Pope Francis added that by reflecting on mothers, we can “learn that love that is cultivated above all in silence, that knows how to make room for the other, respecting their dignity, leaving the freedom to express themselves, rejecting every form of possession, oppression, and violence.”
Pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for Pope Francis’ Angelus reflection on Jan. 1, 2024, wave peace signs. On Jan. 1 the Catholic Church observes the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, as well as the World Day of Peace. Credit: Elizabeth Alva/CNA
In addition to the day’s Marian feast, on Jan. 1 the Church celebrates the World Day of Peace, a tradition which was started by Pope Paul VI in 1968. In light of this celebration, Pope Francis took a moment during the Angelus to note that “‘freedom and peaceful coexistence are threatened whenever human beings yield to the temptation to selfishness, self-interest, the desire for profit, and the thirst for power.’”
The pope underscored that the antidote to overcoming these destructive tendencies that are ubiquitous today is “love” which “consists of respect and kindness: In this way, it breaks down barriers and helps us to live fraternal relationships, to build up more just and humane, more peaceful societies.”
The Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima, Japan. / Credit: Oilstreet via Wikimedia (CC BY 2.5)
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 6, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).
In a message on the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Pope Leo XIV is calling on… […]
4 Comments
Prayers for Jorge Bergoglio, that he will be reconciled with Christ, that The Unity Of The Holy Ghost (Filioque) and thus the fact that “It is not possible to have Sacramental Communion without Ecclesiastical Communion”, will be affirmed, and The Papacy will be restored through the election of a valid Pope, who is in communion with Christ and His One, Holy, Catholic, And Apostolic Church, and that this validly elected Pope will consecrate Russia to Our Blessed Mother’s Immaculate Heart, exactly as Our Blessed Mother requested, affirming The Deposit Of Faith, and visibly separating the counterfeit church, with its counterfeit magisterium, from The True Church Of Christ, which exists Through Christ, With Christ, And In Christ, Oh God , Almighty Father, In The Unity Of The Holy Ghost (Filioque) Amen.
Pope St. Clement I, Martyr (100) He was exiled by the emperor Trajan and cast into the sea with an anchor tied to his neck. His letter to the Corinthians is one of the most precious documents of the earliest century. He is named third in the Canon of the Mass after the apostles.
Prayers for Jorge Bergoglio, that he will be reconciled with Christ, that The Unity Of The Holy Ghost (Filioque) and thus the fact that “It is not possible to have Sacramental Communion without Ecclesiastical Communion”, will be affirmed, and The Papacy will be restored through the election of a valid Pope, who is in communion with Christ and His One, Holy, Catholic, And Apostolic Church, and that this validly elected Pope will consecrate Russia to Our Blessed Mother’s Immaculate Heart, exactly as Our Blessed Mother requested, affirming The Deposit Of Faith, and visibly separating the counterfeit church, with its counterfeit magisterium, from The True Church Of Christ, which exists Through Christ, With Christ, And In Christ, Oh God , Almighty Father, In The Unity Of The Holy Ghost (Filioque) Amen.
Jorge Bergoglio is the valid pope, and Russia was validly consecrated in the 1980s. Begone with your satanic conspiracy-mongering.
“But I say to you, Love your enemies: do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you.” (Matt. 5:44)
Pope St. Clement I, Martyr (100) He was exiled by the emperor Trajan and cast into the sea with an anchor tied to his neck. His letter to the Corinthians is one of the most precious documents of the earliest century. He is named third in the Canon of the Mass after the apostles.