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Church officials call on the public to pray for Pope Francis' healing, recovery
Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David and other leaders of the Catholic Church in the country urge the public to pray for the healing and recovery of Pope Francis, who is in the hospital with double pneumonia.
“May I ask for your prayers for his healing and recovery during this challenging time,” Cardinal David, Caloocan diocese bishop and Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president.
"Despite his condition, doctors say he remains in good spirits and has expressed gratitude for the prayers he has received. The Vatican has canceled all of his engagements as he battles this complex respiratory infection," he said.
The Vatican announced Tuesday that Pope Francis has been diagnosed with the onset of double pneumonia. He is currently confined at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome, Italy where he was brought on February 14 to be treated for bronchitis.
There, doctors changed his treatment to deal with a polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract.
The Archdiocese of Manila's Office of Communications posted, "The Holy See Press Office informed us that the health condition of the Holy Father presents 'a complex picture.' Tests reveal that he has bilateral pneumonia that requires additional treatment."
Manila Archbishop Cardinal Jose Advincula issued an "appeal for prayer for the healing of Pope Francis," adding that the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, Archbishop Charles John Brown, has already issued a similar appeal for prayers.
Advincula requested that parishes and communities pray for Pope Francis, and organize a Holy Hour for the healing of the sick.
"Let us likewise offer our personal and family prayers for this intention," the cardinal also said.
Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma also called for prayers for the 88-year-old Pontiff.
"On behalf of the Archdiocese of Cebu, I would like to solicit and ask for your fervent prayers for our Holy Father who we know is sick. In God's love, we pray for his healing," he said in a statement.
"We know how much he means to us, and how much he loves us. In this prayer of healing, may he recover to good health, that he may continue to serve in the same zeal and charity for all of us. And so once more, I plead, I ask for fervent prayers for the intentions of our Holy Father. We pray that the Lord, in His kindness, will bring him back to health. God bless."
Francis, who has been pontiff since 2013, has had influenza and other health problems several times over the past two years. As a young adult he developed pleurisy and had part of one lung removed, and in recent times has been prone to lung infections.
It can be recalled that in 2021, Pope Francis was also hospitalized to undergo colon surgery. — BAP, GMA Integrated News
