The Secretary General of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) has described Pope Francis as a leader who has embraced the physical challenges of his role with remarkable determination.  

In an interview with Newzroom Afrika about Pope Francis’s health following his hospitalization at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on February 14, Fr Hugh O’Connor recalled how the 88-year-old Pontiff’s history of health struggles, including a partial lung removal as a young man, has not deterred him from tirelessly serving the universal Church.

“It’s been one of the crosses he has had to carry. He was also elected Pope at a rather advanced age, and I think that sense of urgency and mission has driven him forward. He has been willing to travel in a wheelchair, to come out leaning heavily on a stick or someone’s arm, he knows people want to meet him, to see him, and that he has something to offer. He hasn’t held himself back from giving himself—essentially sacrificing himself for the role,” said Fr O’Connor in the Monday, February 24 interview.

Fr O’Connor highlighted Pope Francis’s pastoral concern for those affected by ongoing conflicts, the poor, and the marginalised. He recalled Pope Francis’s solidarity and compassion with the victims of the ongoing conflicts and how the Holy Father “during the war in Gaza and Israel” contacted the Catholic parish in Gaza “every night to talk to the people there, showing them that he is with them in their tremendous distress.”

“Even from the hospital, when he was first admitted, he contacted the parish and had a video call with them—especially with the young people and children—as a father should. He truly acts as the father of the Church, which is why we call him The Holy Father,” he said.

According to the Holy See Press Office’s February 24 update on Pope Francis’s health “the Holy Father’s clinical condition, despite its severity, has shown a slight improvement.”

“No episodes of asthma-like respiratory distress occurred today, and some laboratory tests have shown improvement. The monitoring of his mild kidney insufficiency has not raised any concerns. Oxygen therapy continues, although with slightly reduced flow and oxygen levels,” reads the update.

In the Monday, February 24 update, the Holy See Press Office said that in the evening, the Holy Father “called the parish priest of Gaza to express his paternal closeness,” and thanked “the entire People of God, who in these days have gathered to pray for his health.”

Meanwhile, on Monday evening, the Cardinals residing in Rome, along with all collaborators of the Roman Curia and the Diocese of Rome started the rosary prayer at St Peter’s Square for the Holy Father’s health.

In a Monday, February 24 statement, the Holy See Press Office announced that the first session of the rosary prayer would be led by the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.