He was in critical condition and fought against double pneumonia, but Pope Francis maintained his traditions and prayers that he began nearly a year and a half ago when the war in Gaza began.
And now, as the patient’s Pontive is receiving care at the Jegli Hospital in Rome, Catholic Palestinians in Gaza are offering Francis their prayers, praying with leaders in northern Gaza and members of the Holy Family Parish, for him pray for healing.
“Let us unite and pray for the recovery of Pope Francis,” Yusuf Asad, pastor of the Holy Family Diocese, completed every day since Francis was taken to the hospital on February 14.
News of Francis’ illness reached this small community in the Gaza Strip, and the Holy Family Diocese prayed for him, emphasizing the deep bond formed between the pope and the Palestinian church during the entire devastating war.
Two days after the Hamas-led terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, Israel has begun bombing the Gaza Strip, Francis Vatican News.
When Francis was diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs, it was unclear whether he was able to continue the tradition while he was cared for.
However, on Monday morning, the Vatican said that even though the pope was still in critical condition, he showed “slight improvement” and was able to resume work from hospital beds, including calling the pastor of the diocese of Gaza” to express his expression of father’s intimacy .”
The Holy See said Tuesday that Francis’ condition remained the same.
Although his phone call with the Holy Family Diocese lasted for several minutes, they have been a way for him to keep in touch with the Christian community in Gaza, including Christians and Muslims in Israel’s territorial offensive.
At the end of the general audience on January 22, Francis described the cautious optimism expressed by the diocese leaders after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
“They were happy. They ate lentils,” Francis said at the time, adding, according to Vatican News, “We must pray for peace.”
In a video released by the Vatican news last month, Francis can be seen in a video call with Asad, “Good evening, how are you?” In Italian, ask him that day he was asked. Assad smiled and told the pope that the entire community could eat chicken.
“They want to thank you, Father. They pray for you, because you always pray for them,” Yusuf said to the Pope.
According to local health authorities, Francis has been condemning violence in Gaza over the past 16 months, including more than 48,000 people, including thousands of children, since Israel launched an offensive on the territory.
Last month, Francis stepped up criticism of Israel’s military campaign, calling the humanitarian situation in Gaza “very serious and shameful” and addressed diplomats every year, delivered by aides on his behalf.
According to the Latino in Jerusalem, his criticism of the incident in the December 2023 incident in the Holy Family Diocese was also outspoken.
Israel denied responsibility for the incident at the time, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel was “incorrect” for Israel’s death, according to an IDF investigation.
The future of the current ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas has increased in recent days, with the two sides not yet engaged in a second phase of a truce.
Netanyahu’s office said Israel this week it would postpone the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, which he said would “until the release of the next hostage without a ritual of humiliation”, marking a previous release.
Meanwhile, Israel continues to strengthen operations in the occupied West Bank, where IDF tanks have entered the territory for the first time in decades in the past few decades.
According to Reuters, Israeli bulldozers removed a large swath of the Zhanning refugee camp and appeared to be clearing wide roads through its previously narrow alleys, with thousands of Palestinians leaving Zhanning and nearby Turkam.
