Mayor Honey Lacuna urged all residents of the city to join in offering prayers for the full and swift recovery of Pope Francis, who is being treated for double pneumonia.
Lacuna said this in support of calls earlier made by Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines for prayers
The Vatican reported another slight improvement in Pope Francis’s condition on Thursday, as the 88-year-old spent his seventh day in the hospital.
The Argentine pontiff was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital last Friday with bronchitis, but it later developed into pneumonia in both lungs, sparking widespread alarm.
“The clinical conditions of the Holy Father are slightly improving,” the Vatican said.
“He is apyretic (without fever) and his hemodynamic (blood flow) parameters continue to be stable. This morning he received the Eucharist and subsequently devoted himself to his work activities.”
Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, head of Italy’s bishops conference, had earlier said the pontiff was “on the right path.” With AFP