Faithful at Rome hospital continue to pray for Pope Francis' health after positive Vatican update

(25 Feb 2025) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Rome - 25 February 2025 1. Wide of Gemelli Hospital where Pope Francis is staying on 10th floor 2. Sign on Gemelli with 10th floor windows in background 3. Statue of Pope John Paul II in front of hospital 4. Wide of statue with candles and drawing for Pope Francis at the base 5. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Francesca Astengo, Rome resident: “Attention for the poor above all, to the last, the marginalized, he always gave them a particular attention. He also tried to change the face of the Roman Curia in the sense that the idea that we all have of all the apparatus that moves around the Vatican, he tried in every possible way to make people understand that the papacy is close to the people and he himself was always very close to the people. He always used simple methods, direct, understandable for everyone. He did not exclude any means of communication direct and indirect. He gave interviews on TV, before it was not exactly like that and this, in my opinion, brought him much closer and improved the idea of the papacy in the minds of the people.” 6. Candle with photo of Pope Francis 7. Candles 8. Balloon with Pope Francis photo 9. People coming and going from hospital 10. SOUNDBITE (English) Hoang Phuc Nguyen, Catholic faithful: “We have come here today to pray for Pope Francis because I am Catholic. We are pilgrims to Rome and we heard that he is in the hospital right now and we are very worried about his health. So, I come here today to pray for him, because he is the leader of the Catholic Church all over the world. He is our father and it is our responsibility to pray for him.” 11. Candles at base of statue 12. Candles, flowers, messages 13. Man lighting candle and placing it at base of statue 14. Man praying in front of statue 15. Man wiping away tears 16. Candles and messages at base of statue 17. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Maddalena Viscardi, 27, visitor from Salerno: “Pope Francis is an important person, he is a point of reference for when you find yourself in difficulty you look for help in him because he is a humble person.” 18. TV Crews outside hospital 19. Entrance to Hospital STORYLINE: Pope Francis continued his recovery from pneumonia Tuesday as the Vatican set in motion a nightly marathon of prayers from “his home” and allies cheered him on from afar in hopes that he might recover and get back to leading the Catholic Church. The Vatican’s typically brief morning update said “The pope slept well, all night.” On Monday evening, doctors said he remained in critical condition with pneumonia but reported a “slight improvement” in some laboratory results. In the most upbeat bulletin in days, they said he had resumed work from his hospital room, calling a parish in Gaza City that he has kept in touch with since the war there began. In the evening, thousands of faithful gathered in a rain-soaked St. Peter’s Square for the first of a nightly recitation of the Rosary. The evening evoked the vigils when St. John Paul II was dying, but those on hand were praying for Francis’ recovery. Standing on the same stage where Francis usually presides, Cardinal Pietro Parolin said ever since Francis had been hospitalized, a chorus of prayers for his recovery had swelled up from around the world. The Argentine pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, has been hospitalized since Feb. 14 and doctors have said his condition is touch-and-go, given his age, fragility and pre-existing lung disease. AP video shot by Oleg Cetnic Production by Trisha Thomas Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...