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Well-wishers who gathered in the dark to pray for Pope Francis on Thursday evening in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City heard his voice for the first time since the leader of the Catholic world was hospitalized almost three weeks ago. In a brief recording, Francis thanked them for their prayers.
“May God bless you, and may the Virgin protect you,” he said in Spanish. He sounded fragile and tired.
Francis has not been seen in public since he was hospitalized on Feb. 14. As his illness has stretched on, prospects for his full recovery have dimmed for many Catholics. At the same time, the contours of his convalescence have taken on a familiar rhythm for anyone who has sat by the bedside of an ailing loved one, or waited anxiously for news from miles away.
It is a period of waiting and prayer, but also of Googling new medical terms and checking one’s phone too often for updates from the designated family point person. Medical minutiae distract from bigger thoughts about the unbearable unknown.
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