On Sunday evening, Mariarosa Cavañas lit a candle in front of a small chapel in the Church of Santa Maria Addolorata — the national church of Argentina in Rome — where a photo of Pope Francis was affixed on a dais next to a prayer for his good health. On the back wall of the chapel sat a small statue of Our Lady of Lujàn, the patron saint of Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, and a prayer entrusting Francis to her care.
“I hope he gets better,” said Ms. Cavañas, an Argentine who works as a nurse auxiliary in Rome. She was among the dozens of faithful who had flocked to the church for a Mass that brings Rome’s Argentine community together on the first Sunday of every month. This Sunday, their ailing compatriot Francis was very much on everyone’s mind, and in their prayers.
Francis has been in a Rome hospital with pneumonia and other infections since Feb. 14. On Tuesday evening, the Vatican said that Francis’ condition was stable after suffering two acute respiratory episodes the previous day.
“I am very sad, and I’ve been praying for him,” said Marcela Perez, who works for a institute that houses six nuns in Rome. “All of Argentina is praying for the pope.”
Millions around the world have been offering prayers for Francis since he entered the hospital. But members of the Argentine community that meets at the church of Santa Maria Addolorata, built a century ago by Argentine bishops, said they felt particularly close to him.
