VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis remained hospitalized on Wednesday, his 13th day on the 10th floor of the Agostino Gemelli Hospital in Rome, according to the Holy See Press Office.
Although it was his fourth day in critical condition, the Holy See reported that the 88-year-old pope had not experienced respiratory distress since Saturday.
Francis continued respiratory physiotherapy therapy as his condition was critical but stable and a CT scan showed “normal evolution,” according to the afternoon update by the Holy See.
Francis, an Argentine Jesuit who was elected pope in 2013, was hospitalized on Feb. 14 after bronchitis devolved into bilateral pneumonia, an infection of both lungs.
Francis, the first pontiff from the Americas, had been living with only part of his lungs for decades after an infection prompted surgery in his 20s in Argentina.
Wednesday’s general audience was canceled, but the Holy See released the pope’s catechesis urging Catholics to “have clear eyes capable of seeing beyond appearances,” “to detect the presence of God in smallness” and to “rekindle hope.”
Outside of the hospital in Rome, near the entrance, Catholics stopped to pray at a statue of St. John Paul II. There were candles, balloons, flowers, and cards.
The Vatican also announced the pope had approved a new fundraising commission and four new appointments in Mexico, Australia, and Tanzania.
In Mexico, Rev. José Francisco González González, a bishop, will serve as the archbishop of Tuxtla Gutierrez; and Rev. Andrés Sáinz Márquez will serve as the bishop prelate of Jesús María.
In Vatican City, at St. Peter’s Square, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re was set to continue presiding over the evening Holy Rosary.
Here is the pope’s complete catechesis:
Cycle of Catechesis – Jubilee 2025. Jesus Christ our Hope. I. The Infancy of Jesus. 7. “My eyes have seen your salvation” (Lk 2:30). The presentation of Jesus at the Temple
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Today we will contemplate the beauty of “Jesus Christ, our hope” (1 Tim 1:1), in the mystery of His presentation at the Temple.
In the narratives of Jesus’ infancy, the evangelist Luke shows us Mary and Joseph’s obedience to the Law of the Lord and to all its prescriptions. In reality, in Israel there was no obligation to present the child at the Temple, but those who lived listening to the Word of the Law and wished to conform to it, considered it a valuable practice. So did Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel, who was barren; God heard her prayer and she, having had her son, took him to the temple and offered him to the Lord forever (cf. 1 Sam 1:24-28).
Luke therefore recounts Jesus’ first act of worship, celebrated in the holy city, Jerusalem, which will be the destination of His entire itinerant ministry from the moment He makes the firm decision to go up there (cf. Lk 9:51), heading towards the fulfilment of His mission.
Mary and Joseph do not simply embed Jesus in a history of the family, the people, of the covenant with the Lord God. They take care of His growth, and introduce Him into the atmosphere of faith and worship. And they too gradually grow in their comprehension of a vocation that far surpasses them.
In the Temple, which is a “house of prayer” (Lk 19:46), the Holy Spirit breathes, speaks to the heart of an elderly man: Simeon, a member of the holy people of God schooled in expectation and hope, who nurtures the desire for the fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel by through the prophets. Simeon perceives in the Temple the presence of the Lord’s Anointed One, he sees the light that shines in the midst of the peoples plunged “in darkness” (cf. Is 9:1) and he goes to meet that child who, as Isaiah prophesies, “is born to us”, He is the son who “is given to us”, the “Prince of Peace” (Is 9:5). Simeon embraces that child who, small and helpless, rests in his arms; but it is he, in fact, who finds consolation and the fullness of his existence by holding Him to himself. He expresses this in a canticle full of heartfelt gratitude, which in the Church has become the prayer at the end of the day:
“Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel” (Lk 2:29-32).
Simeon sings the joy of those who have seen Him, who have recognized Him and are able to transmit to others the encounter with the Saviour of Israel and of the peoples. He is a witness of faith received as a gift and communicated to others; he is a witness of the hope that does not disappoint; he is a witness of God’s love, which fills the heart of man with joy and peace. Filled with this spiritual consolation, the elderly Simeon sees death not as the end, but as fulfillment, fullness; he awaits it like a “sister” that does not annihilate but introduces to the true life that he has already foretasted and in which he believes.
On that day, Simeon is not the only one to see salvation made flesh in the child Jesus. The same also happens to Anna, a woman more than eighty years old, a widow, entirely devoted to service to the Temple and consecrated to prayer. Indeed, upon seeing the child, Anne celebrates the God of Israel, who has redeemed His people in that very child, and tells others about Him, generously spreading the prophetic word. The song of redemption of two elders thus emits the proclamation of the Jubilee for all the people and for the world. Hope is rekindled in hearts in the Temple of Jerusalem because Christ our hope has entered it.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us too imitate Simeon and Anna, these “pilgrims of hope” who have clear eyes capable of seeing beyond appearances, who are able to detect the presence of God in smallness, who know how to welcome God’s visit with joy and rekindle hope in the heart of brothers and sisters.
Prayers for Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Square
Torres contributed to this report from Miami.