Jubilee pilgrims, Rome’s Catholics pray for Pope Francis

Vatican City, Feb 21, 2025 / 11:20 am

Local Catholics and jubilee pilgrims in Rome are praying for Pope Francis’ recovery as he marks one week in the hospital for treatment for pneumonia and bronchitis.

Pilgrim groups and individuals from around the world continue to travel to Rome for the 2025 Jubilee Year, and though they won’t catch a glimpse of the pontiff, he is close to their hearts.

As they prepared to walk through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, a group of about 50 pilgrims from Our Lady of Nantes Parish in France told CNA they are praying for the pope’s full recovery.

The group was planning to attend the Angelus with the pope on Feb. 23, but now, “we pray for him and we hope that everything will be OK,” seminarian Aymeric Dor said.

Dor recalled that one of the conditions to receive the Holy Door plenary indulgence is to pray for the pope’s intentions, which he said they are doing: “We are praying for his health too.”

Agata Eccli, who is part of a pilgrimage of 57 people from different parishes and towns in Poland, said her group is not only praying for Pope Francis during their visit to St. Peter’s Basilica but also at each of the stops they make on an Italy-wide pilgrimage, including the tomb of St. Anthony in Padua, St. Francis in Assisi, St. Peter in Rome, and St. Pio of Pietrelcina in San Giovanni Rotondo.

Families are also keeping the ailing pontiff in their prayers, including Italian couple Andrea Paradisi and Chiara Costa, who brought their 4-month-old baby Margherita on a pilgrimage to Rome over the weekend for the jubilee. 

Marcin Bogacki of Warsaw, Poland, told CNA he has fond memories of visiting Rome as a child during the Jubilee Year in 2000 and wanted to have the same experience with his own young family. 

Though his wife is expecting their second child and was unable to fly at this time, Bogacki brought his mother and his 4-year-old son. He said they are praying for Pope Francis, for the Church, for a private family intention, and for his wife and their unborn baby.

Rome prays

Across Rome, local Catholics are offering Masses and special prayers for Pope Francis’ health. 

The chaplain of Gemelli Hospital — where the pontiff is receiving treatment — is offering Mass for Francis every day at 1 p.m. in the hospital’s chapel.

On Feb. 22, the feast of the Chair of St. Peter — a day that commemorates the authority Jesus gave to the pope — a group of Catholics will gather outside Gemelli Hospital to pray a rosary for the pope’s health.

At the Basilica of St. Mary Major, every Mass is being offered for the pope, the basilica’s communications director told CNA, including Masses celebrated in the chapel of the ancient Salus Populi Romani image of Mary — a favorite of Francis, who spends time in prayer in the chapel before and after every international trip.