Catholic Bishops in Africa Pen Letter to Pope Francis, Praying for His “swift, complete recovery”

Nairobi, 20 February, 2025 / 11:39 AM

Catholic Bishops in Africa have expressed their solidarity and spiritual closeness with Pope Francis as he undergoes medical care at a hospital in Rome.

In a message sent on behalf of the Church in Africa and the continent’s Islands, members of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) assured the Holy Father of their prayers for his full recovery.

“The Church in Africa and the Islands has closely followed, with profound attention and fervent prayer, the days of your Holiness’ hospitalization at the Agostino Gemelli University Policlinic in Rome,” SECAM members say in their Wednesday, February 19 message shared with ACI Africa.

They add, “Through this message, we wish to reaffirm the solidarity and spiritual closeness of all the members of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences in Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) and the entire Church across the continent and its Islands.”

“We earnestly pray for Your Holiness’ swift and complete recovery,” the Catholic Church leaders in Africa say in the statement that SECAM President, Fridolin Cardinal Ambongo of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kinshasa in DRC signed.

Pope Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on February 14, to undergo testing and treatment for bronchitis, the Vatican said. 

The 88-year-old Pontiff was hospitalized in the late morning on February 14 following meetings with a number of people, including the prime minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico.

On Tuesday, February 18 the Holy Father was diagnosed with a polymicrobial respiratory infection that required physicians to modify his treatment plan.

All diagnostic results indicated a complex clinical situation that medics said would require “an appropriate hospital stay” at Rome”s Gemelli hospital, Vatican officials announced, adding that the General audience for Wednesday, February 19, was canceled.

On Wednesday, February 19, Pope Francis showed “slight improvement,” according to the Vatican.

The latest hospitalization comes barely a month after the Holy Father was treated for a contusion on his right forearm after falling at his residence.

Pope Francis spent much of the past decade in relatively good health but has has had to deal with several painful medical conditions over the last few years.