Singapore Archdiocese calls for prayers for critically ill Pope
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Pope Francis looking on during the Jubilee Audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican on Feb 1. He was hospitalised on Feb 14.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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SINGAPORE – The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore has enjoined local Catholics to pray for Pope Francis, amid reports that the 88-year-old is in critical condition.
The pontiff, who made his first visit to Singapore in September 2024,
He entered critical condition
The local archdiocese had on Feb 21 shared a prayer for the Pope online, entreating the 395,000 faithful here to “lift up Pope Francis in (their) prayers” and entrust his health to God’s love and mercy.
It shared the three-paragraph petition again on the morning of Feb 23, as Pope Francis, the leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics worldwide, appeared to deteriorate.
According to the Vatican in a late update on Feb 22, the pontiff – who remains conscious – received “high flows” of oxygen to help him breathe.
He also underwent blood transfusions after tests showed low platelet counts.
The statement added that the “Holy Father continues to be alert and spent the day in an armchair although in more pain than yesterday”.
“At the moment the prognosis is guarded.”
Cardinals, bishops and laity around the world are also praying for the Catholic leader, reported the Vatican news.
In Latin America, where the feeling of kinship with the Pope – who is Argentinian and the region’s first pontiff – is more pronounced, Catholics from Mexico to Argentina and the Pacific to the Atlantic coasts attended masses
Argentinian priest Adrian Bennardins told Reuters: “We... pray for him with trust in God and pray for his health with joy.”
He praised the Pope for making the global Catholic Church “closer, simple, fraternal, without leaving anyone out”.
The pontiff, who has chronic lung disease, was admitted to a hospital in Rome on Feb 14, after a bad bout of bronchitis.
