Pope Francis’ health crisis: ‘We should be his strength now’
A photo of Pope Francis in 2015 meeting with the father of a young volunteer who died in an accident after a Papal Mass in Tacloban City. (AP Photo/L’Osservatore Romano, Pool)
MANILA, Philippines—As Pope Francis is in critical condition, the father of a young Filipino volunteer who died in an accident after the Papal Mass in Tacloban City in 2015 said “we should be his strength now.”
Paul Padasas, who met with Pope Francis in Manila after the death of his daughter, Kristel Mae Padasas, stressed that he can still remember how he and his relatives were consoled by His Holiness in one of the darkest moments of their lives.
“When he laid his hand on me, I felt relieved,” he told INQUIRER.net on Thursday, Feb. 27. “He became our strength, as if he took away the sorrow that we were feeling because of our loss.”
READ: ‘It’s not a loss of life but meaningful death’
The death of the 27-year-old volunteer for Pope Francis’ visit to the Philippines, was the first thing the Holy Father talked about when he presided over a program with thousands of young people at the University of Santo Tomas.
“I was only watching it on TV, but a local priest came and told us that Pope Francis will meet us at the Apostolic Nunciature,” he said. “I was really comforted by his words, especially since he prayed for us, too.”
READ: Pope Francis met with father of volunteer who died in Tacloban
The conversation that lasted 20 minutes would later become his strength whenever confronted with life’s challenges and the sadness brought by the death of his daughter, “who had always been eager to be of help.”
READ: Pope Francis asks for minute of silence for dead volunteer
“So let us be his strength, too,” Padasas said as he shared that now that Pope Francis is in critical condition for a bilateral lung infection at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome, “I am praying that God will heal him from his sickness.”
He said praying for Francis’ health is nothing compared to how he has been good. “Even when he left the Philippines, I have always felt his consoling presence,” Padasas pointed out.
‘Always a hope’
This was stressed, too, by a Filipino priest based in Rome, who stated that “even during his sickness, the Pope continues to strengthen his brothers and sisters especially in being one with us in prayer.”
Dacalos was one of the thousands at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City on the night of Tuesday, Feb. 25, for the second day of “Rosary for the Pope’s Health,” which was led by Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle of the Dicastery for Evangelization.
It was his second evening taking part in the prayer, which was started by Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Cardinal Parolin on Monday, Feb. 24, as a response to the “sentiments of the people of God.”
READ: Pope Francis shows further slight improvement as he battles pneumonia
“For me it was a kind of full circle experience with Cardinal Tagle leading the people in prayer,” he told INQUIRER.net while looking back at Pope Francis’ visit to the Philippines in 2015.
“If we remember […] Cardinal Tagle cited the Gospel of Luke when the Lord said to Peter, ‘Strengthen your brothers,’ to thank the Pope for his visit that brought hope to Filipinos,” Dacalos explained.
Ten years later, he said “Cardinal Tagle led the people in prayer in an evening filled with hope” as Pope Francis strives to still serve as Vicar of Christ even though doctors are declining to decide on his prognosis.
A few days ago, the Vatican said Pope Francis’ condition slightly improved enough that he has already made a phone call to a parish priest in a church in Gaza, which is providing shelter to 500 people displaced by Israeli bombings.
