'People flock to send love to the Pope': Alberto Barranco Chavarría
More and more people are gathering in different parts of Rome and the Vatican to express their affection for Pope Francis, who remains hospitalized with pneumonia, said Alberto Barranco Chavarría, Mexico's ambassador to the Holy See.
The number of people gathering around the tower of the Gemelli hospital is growing. Flowers are being placed on the statue of John Paul II, messages are being placed for the Pope, and children are sending drawings," Barranco said in an interview with Pascal Beltrán del Río for Imagen Radio .
In addition, a novena of rosaries is held daily in St. Peter's Square, with all the cardinals, the full Roman Curia, with about 10,000 people at 9:00 p.m. every day (local time), praying for the health of the Pope and for all the sick.
The Vatican remains tense, but the latest news has kept it relaxed, he added.
Barranco Chavarría recalled other episodes in which leaders of the Catholic Church were convalescing.
In the case of Pope Saint John Paul II, he was in a critical situation for quite a long time, a hospitalization room was improvised in the Apostolic Palace, with supplies to deal with an emergency, including surgery," recalled the diplomat.
In the case of Francis, this seems difficult, since the Pope lives in an apartment in a building in Santa Marta, in the Vatican, but it is estimated that he could go to the Apostolic Palace to receive care, at a given moment, added the expert.
However, doctors are still not sure when the Argentine prelate might be discharged.
Even the prognosis for the Jesuit leader's health remains guarded.
The Pope was hospitalized on February 14 due to a respiratory infection that later led to bilateral pneumonia.
He has remained in good spirits these days, and Bergoglio even received the Eucharist yesterday.
FRANCISCO, WITHOUT RESPIRATORY CRISESThe latest medical report on Pope Francis' health indicated that yesterday the pontiff did not experience any "acute respiratory episodes" and that his blood levels remain stable.
The latest statement from the Holy See press office reiterated that “the clinical condition of the Holy Father remains critical but stable.”
After a scheduled study, the Pope continued his activities from the Gemelli hospital in Rome. He authorized the beatification of various figures, including the Venezuelan José Gregorio Hernández.
Francis approved the favorable votes of the Ordinary Session of the Cardinal Fathers and Bishops members of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints for the canonizations as well as for that of Blessed Bartolo Longo, a lay faithful, born in Latiano, Italy, on February 10, 1841 and died in Pompeii on October 5, 1926.
-Isabel Gonzalez
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