Vatican: Thousands pray for the Pope in St. Peter's Square

A large stage has been set up in front of the entrance to St. Peter's Basilica, a canopy with LED beams in the ceiling. It would be the perfect backdrop for the Pope who reigns here. On Monday evening at 9 p.m., however, it was Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin who stepped up to the microphone and opened the prayer for the seriously ill Francis, who is battling for his health a few kilometers further north in the Gemelli Hospital.

The second man in the Vatican had called all cardinals present in Rome , as well as Vatican and diocese employees and interested believers, to pray the rosary for the sick Francis. Several thousand people came. From now on, there will be such a prayer every evening in St. Peter's Square - which further fuels speculation about the Pope's state of health.

The Pope has been in hospital for around ten days now. An intensive care doctor assesses the situation as "prognostically unfavorable." Nevertheless, there is also a positive development.

The true state of Francis, who was admitted to hospital ten days ago with a severe bout of bronchitis that had been going on for weeks, is not known in detail. The bulletins issued twice a day by the doctors treating him sometimes sound threatening, sometimes cautiously optimistic. They expressly believe that his life is still in danger. But there is also a chance of recovery: "Both doors are open," said the head of the medical team, Sergio Alfieri, at the only press conference so far last Friday.

On Monday, it was reported that some of his blood values ​​had improved and that the Pope had even worked a little in the afternoon. He also resumed his previous daily ritual of calling the Catholic community in the Gaza Strip and thanking the Argentinian priest working there for a video of his get-well wishes. On the one hand, this could indicate that he is feeling better. On the other hand, the doctors specifically mentioned that the Pope did not suffer another asthma attack on Monday: It almost sounded as if they were surprised by this.

Both lungs are still inflamed and there is talk of early kidney failure. Specialists are being quoted in the media as saying that the situation of the 88-year-old, already weakening Francis is extremely serious. Of course, these are remote diagnoses by doctors who have not seen the patient.

The rumor mill in Rome is bubbling, on top of that fake news is being posted on journalists' accounts, every few days an online journal reports from a supposedly 100% reliable source that the Pope has already died. The Vatican is saddened by so much lack of respect, but the behavior in the highest church circles when it comes to the question of a possible successor is also causing discontent. "The speculation must stop," demanded the influential Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich from Luxembourg on Monday, who, like Parolin himself, is considered papabile , i.e. a possible successor. "It is terrible that priests, bishops, cardinals and members of the order are considering a possible conclave while the Pope is still alive," said Hollerich in an interview with the Italian daily newspaper La Stampa , adding that this was "deeply disrespectful."

Perhaps in response to this, the cardinals were summoned to St. Peter's Square. There they sat in the front row while Cardinal Secretary of State Parolin personally prayed the rosary for the ailing Pope: a widespread Catholic form of prayer in which a sequence of one Our Father and ten Hail Marys is prayed with a string of pearls in the hands. Parolin entrusted the Pope to "the powerful intercession of the Most Holy Mary": "May she, who is our caring mother, support him in this time of illness and trial and help him to recover quickly." Francis is avowedly very devout of Mary. The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore is his favorite church in Rome, and he wants to be buried there - and not in St. Peter's Basilica.

Long-serving Vatican observers recall that such rosary prayers were also performed in the last days of the terminally ill Pope John Paul II, which led to the question: Does the Vatican perhaps know more about Francis' health than the public? Or is it simply a sign of compassion from the Curia, in which this Pope has more opponents than supporters? After all, some of his fiercest critics were among the cardinals, united in prayer with Francis' friends that evening.