President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. joined the global Catholic community in offering prayers for Pope Francis who remained in critical condition as he battled “mild” kidney failure on top of double pneumonia on Monday.
“It is heartbreaking to hear about Pope Francis’ condition. In these moments, we stand united with the world in prayer for his strength and recovery,” Mr. Marcos wrote in Filipino on his social media account.
The Philippine leader expressed hope the Pontiff would continue to receive divine guidance and strength as he carried on with his mission of faith and compassion.
“May the Lord continue to guide and strengthen him so he may fulfill his mission of spreading faith and love to humanity,” Mr. Marcos added.
Meanwhile, the Vatican said Francis spent a peaceful night and was “resting” Monday amid global concern over the pontiff’s health.
The 88-year-old head of the Catholic Church was admitted to the Gemelli hospital in Rome on February 14 with breathing difficulties and his condition has since worsened.
But the Vatican’s morning bulletin said: “The night passed well, the pope slept and is resting.”
This is the longest hospitalization of Francis’ papacy and Catholics around the world have prayed for his recovery amid the worries about his condition.
An initial bronchitis diagnosis developed into double pneumonia and on Saturday the Vatican warned for the first time that his condition was critical.
On Sunday, it said Francis continues to receive “high-flow” oxygen through a nasal cannula, and blood tests demonstrated an “initial, mild, renal failure, currently under control.”
Francis is alert but “the complexity of the clinical picture, and the need to wait for the pharmacological treatments to have some effect, mean that the prognosis remains reserved,” it concluded.
Abele Donati, head of the anaesthesia and intensive care unit at the Marche University Hospital, told the Corriere della Sera daily that the renal failure “could signal the presence of sepsis in the early stages.”
“It is the body’s response to an ongoing infection, in this case of the two lungs,” he said.
For his part, German Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Muller told the Corriere della Sera “the pope is alive and this is the moment to pray, not think about his successor.”
Still, he pointed out: “We all must die. There is no eternal earthly life. The pope has a special task, but he is a man like all men.”
Well-wishers left candles outside the Gemelli hospital, where Francis is in a special papal suite on the 10th floor, and where the Vatican said he took part in a mass on Sunday morning. With AFP
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “Marcos joins Catholic faithful in praying for Pope Francis.”