Message from Father John Fitzmaurice on Pope Francis

Concerns are growing for the health of Pope Francis with news the 88-year-old Pontiff has developed an “asthmatic respiratory crisis”.

The Pope was admitted to Gemelli Hospital in Rome, Italy, on February 14 due to having difficulty breathing and soon developed pneumonia in both lungs.

It was revealed today, February 23, the Pope is in a “critical condition”.

Following the news of Pope Francis’s medical challenges, the Times asked local east Auckland Catholic leaders if they wanted to share a message with the community.

Here’s a statement from Father John Fitzmaurice, Parish Priest at Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish in Howick:

“Double pneumonia is a challenge for anyone, but must be all the more so for an 88-year-old who had most of one lunge removed in an operation when he was in his early 20’s.

“The word ‘Pope’, or in Italian ‘Papa’ means ‘Father’. Around the world Catholics and millions of people of good will have felt a sense of solidarity and compassion for Pope Francis in his illness, as one does for the father of a family.

“Here in Howick, and throughout the Catholic Diocese of Auckland (all the parishes from the far North down to the border with the Waikato), we include in our daily prayers a special loving concern for Pope Francis.

“It is true that in the Mass – the central act of worship day by day and especially on Sundays the Catholic Church – the Pope is mentioned by name but so is the local Catholic Bishop.

“In our case, that is Bishop Stephen Lowe, the Catholic Bishop of Auckland.

“So our sense of belonging to the worldwide Catholic Church has both our feet, as it were, planted in both the local soil (our own parish and sense of belonging to the wider Catholic Church in Auckland and the rest of Aotearoa), but also a deep sense of belonging to the universal Catholic Church spread throughout the world.

“Pope Francis is the Bishop of Rome, that is true, but he is also the centre of visible unity (as were all 265 of his predecessors) within the vast and diverse family of the Catholic Church, which roughly consists of a billion and a half people literally drawn from every nation and culture on earth.

“So if the Pope of the day is ill, naturally our first response (as it would be for the father of our own family) is to surround him with loving prayer and concern.

“For us who are part of the Parish of Our Lady Star of the Sea here in Howick, and in every Catholic parish in the land and throughout the world, that means we are united in prayer for and with Pope Francis.

“Anyone who has been seriously ill or in hospital knows how difficult it is to concentrate or even to pray, and that’s why the solidarity and love of Catholics and millions of other Christians throughout the world, as well as those of untold numbers of people of good will, are such a gift for Pope Francis.

“From his sickbed, he has expressed his deep appreciation for this canopy of love and concern.

“That includes us here in Howick. Thank you for the good wishes and prayers of so many in Howick, and God bless you in return.”