The head of the Rome-based Filipino secular institution called on the faithful to pray for Pope Francis as he continuously recovering from his hospitalization on March 29.
Pontificio Collegio Filippino rector Fr. Greg Gaston said in a Facebook post said that the Holy Father underwent treatment at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital for respiratory infection but clarified that it was not related to COVID-19.
“He thanks us all for our prayers and closeness with him in spirit,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, Archbishop Charles John Brown, also asked Filipino Catholics through a video message posted by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) “to pray in a special way during Holy Week for Pope Francis.”
Fr. Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See Press Office clarified that the Pope’s susceptibility to respiratory diseases is due to a lung infection which caused the removal of one of his lungs even before he became a priest.
In a report by Vatican News, the Holy Father is expected to be discharged by Saturday and to be present at the Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square.
“His Holiness is expected to return to the Santa Marta home tomorrow, upon the outcome of the results of the last examinations this morning,” Fr. Bruni said in his statement Friday morning. (Lem Leal Santiago/RCAM-AOC)
