Rome-based Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle on Sunday joined calls for prayers for Pope Francis, who remains in the hospital for respiratory infection.
Presiding over Mass at the Pontificio Collegio Filippino chapel, the cardinal used his homily to call for prayers for the pope’s health and well-being.
“Today, we pray in a special way for Pope Francis,” said Tagle, pro-prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization.
“In the spirit of communion and as the Gospel states, [we may] be vessels of God’s compassion to him and to many others who are suffering from illness,” he said.
The Vatican’s latest medical bulletin said the pope had a “restful night” at Gemelli hospital, after announcing on Saturday evening that he had been in critical condition following “an asthma-like respiratory crisis of prolonged intensity.”
The 88-year-old pontiff received “high-flow” oxygen to help him breathe, the Holy See press office said Saturday. He also underwent blood transfusions after tests showed low platelet counts.
Saturday’s statement also noted, “The Holy Father remains alert and spent the day in an armchair, although he is more fatigued than yesterday. At the moment, the prognosis remains guarded.”
The pope was admitted to hospital on Feb. 14 after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened.
Doctors initially diagnosed a complex viral, bacterial and fungal respiratory tract infection, followed by the onset of pneumonia in both lungs.
