People pray at the statue of John Paul II outside Gemelli Hospital in Rome, where Pope Francis is hospitalized with pneumonia, on Feb. 27, 2025. / Credit: DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP via Getty Images
Vatican City, Feb 27, 2025 / 15:40 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis showed more signs of recovery on Thursday, but more time is needed to determine his medical prognosis.
“Due to the complexity of the clinical picture, further days of clinical stability are needed to clarify the prognosis,” the Vatican said Thursday.
The Holy See Press Office confirmed the pope’s health is “improving” as he continues to undergo high-flow oxygen therapy, using a mask, as well as respiratory physiotherapy sessions.
The Vatican said the Holy Father dedicated time Thursday afternoon to “prayer in the chapel of his private apartment on the 10th floor [of Gemelli Hospital], where he received the Eucharist. He then engaged in work activities.”
Though the Holy Father’s pneumonia symptoms have not changed since Wednesday, his current medical condition is no longer considered “critical,” according to Vatican sources.
As Catholics worldwide continue to pray for the pope’s recovery, Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar general for the Diocese of Rome, offered Mass in the Church of San Marcello al Corso on Thursday for the “gift of health” for the Holy Father.
The Church of San Marcello al Corso houses a 15th-century wooden crucifix venerated by Romans as miraculous, which has been used in processions during the Church’s jubilee years in the 17th, 20th, and 21st centuries.
In 2020, Pope Francis brought the San Marcello crucifix to St. Peter’s Square to bless the world and to pray for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Vatican City, Dec 21, 2019 / 05:44 am (CNA).- The very first way the Child Jesus revealed the love and goodness of the Father was in smiling at his parents, just “like every newborn baby in this world,” Pope Francis said Saturday.
Vatican City, Jun 2, 2018 / 07:15 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis begins his second set of meetings with victims of Fr. Fernando Karadima, a Chilean priest who committed sexual abuse, as well as abuse of power and conscience, at the Vatican Saturday afternoon.
At 4:00 p.m. June 2, according to the Holy See press office, Pope Francis will say Mass with the group of priests, who are guests at the Vatican’s Santa Marta guesthouse June 1-3.
The scheduled group and individual meetings with the pope will begin following the Mass.
The group of nine includes five priests who were victims of abuse of power, conscience, and sexuality; two priests who have been assisting the victims; and two lay people.
The reason the meeting was called by Pope Francis, the Holy See press office stated, “is to deepen the reality experienced by a part of the faithful and the Chilean clergy.”
“With the help of these five priests, the Pope seeks to remedy the internal rupture of the community. In this way we can begin to rebuild a healthy relationship between the faithful and their pastors, once everyone becomes aware of their wounds.”
Most of those coming to the Vatican participated in Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta’s investigation of abuse cover-up by the hierarchy in Chile, whick took place in February. The others worked with the investigation after the archbishop’s time in Chile.
The meeting will conclude the pope’s first round of meetings with the victims of abuses which occurred at Karadima’s Sacred Heart parish in Santiago.
“These priests and lay people represent all the victims of abuses by clerics in Chile, but it is not ruled out that similar initiatives may be repeated in the future,” stated a May 22 press release announcing the meeting.
“The Holy Father continues to ask the faithful of Chile – and especially the faithful of the parishes where these priests carry out their pastoral ministry – to accompany them with prayer and solidarity during these days.”
Francis had met with three more of Karadima’s victims, Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton, and Andres Murillo, at the Vatican April 27-30.
Karadima was convicted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2011 of abusing minors, and sentenced to a life of prayer and penance. He has not been sentenced by civil courts because of Chile’s statue of limitations.
A sacerdotal association which Karadima had led, the Priestly Union of the Sacred Heart, was suppressed within a year of his conviction.
Attention to Karadima’s abuse has heightened since the 2015 appointment of Bishop Juan de la Cruz Barros Madrid to the Diocese of Osorno. Barros had been accused of covering up Karadima’s abuses.
Pope Francis initially defended Barros, saying he had received no evidence of the bishop’s guilt, and called accusations against him “calumny” during a trip to Chile in January. He later relented, and sent Scicluna to investigate the situation in Chile.
After receiving Scicluna’s report, Francis apologized, said that he had been seriously mistaken, and asked to meet the country’s bishops and more outspoken survivors in person.
He met with Chile’s bishops May 15-17. As a result, each of them tendered letters of resignation, which Pope Francis has yet to accept or reject. The pope also gave the bishops a lettter chastising them for systemic cover-up of clerical abuse and calling them to institute deep changes.
On May 19, Bishop Alejandro Goić Karmelić of Rancagua suspended several priests after allegations of sexual misconduct were raised against them. He also apologized for not following up when the accusations were first brought to his attention.
Pope Francis prayed the Angelus before over 20,000 faithful at St. Peter’s Square on Sun., Nov. 12, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media
Vatican City, Nov 12, 2023 / 10:10 am (CNA).
Pope Francis reflected on today’s gospel message, urging the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square to cultivate the interior life and worry less about making a good impression.
Speaking in his Angelus address on Nov. 12, the pope asked the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square to consider, “How is the oil of my soul: do I nourish it and keep it well?”
The pope turned to the parable of the 10 virgins who are awaiting the arrival of the bridegroom to the wedding feast. Five of them were wise and had extra lamp oil to provide light until he arrived, but five were foolish, having brought no extra oil.
The difference between those who prepared their lamps with oil and those who did not is the difference between “goodwill” and “preparation” the Holy Father said. In this way, it reminds us of our own interior life.
“And what is the characteristic of the oil? That it cannot be seen: it is inside the lamps, it is not conspicuous, but without it, the lamps give no light,” said the pope.
The pope also warned that today there are many obstacles to having a genuine moment of inward reflection.
“Let us look at ourselves, and we will see that our life runs the same risk: Today we are very careful about our appearance, the important thing is to take good care of one’s image and make a good impression in front of others.”
“It is the stewardship of the inner life. This means knowing how to stop and listen to one’s heart, to keep watch over one’s own thoughts and feelings,” said the pope.
To engage in the inner reflection and contemplation necessary for a healthy spiritual life requires more than the willingness to listen, he said. “It means knowing how to make room for silence, so as to be capable of listening,” which, he said, often entails making sacrifices.
The faithful gathered at St. Peter’s Square on Sun., Nov. 12, 2023, to pray the Angelus with Pope Francis, who spoke from the window of his study at the Vatican Apostolic Palace. Credit: Vatican Media
During the appeal, the pope called attention to the grave situation in Sudan. Conflict broke out in the county between two rival factions, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in April 2023. The fighting, which has left over 10,000 dead, has been concentrated in the capital city of Khartoum and the Darfur region.
“I am close to the suffering of those dear people of Sudan, and I make a heartfelt appeal to local leaders to encourage access to humanitarian aid and, with the contribution of the international community, to work towards finding peaceful solutions. Let us not forget these brothers of ours who are being tested,” said the pope.
Following his appeal for those in Sudan, the Holy Father spoke again about the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
“Every day our thoughts turn to the very serious situation in Israel and Palestine. I am close to all those who suffer, Palestinians and Israelis. I hug them in this dark moment. And I pray a lot for them.”
“Enough, brothers, enough! In Gaza, the wounded must be helped immediately, civilians must be protected, and much more humanitarian aid must be delivered to that exhausted population. The hostages, among whom there are many elderly people and children, must be freed.”
“Every human being, whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim, of any people and religion, every human being is sacred, precious in the eyes of God and has the right to live in peace. Let us not lose hope: we pray and work tirelessly so that the sense of humanity prevails over the hardness of hearts,” said the pope.
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