Thousands pray for Pope Francis' health

Thousands of people joined in prayer in St. Peter's Square to pray for the health of Pope Francis. On Monday night, under cold and rainy weather, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's second-highest authority, led the prayers for 45 minutes, as the faithful slipped rosary beads, yearning for Francis' speedy recovery.

Meanwhile, the Vatican explained that Pope Francis, hospitalized for pneumonia in both lungs and with slight signs of improvement, rested well overnight.

"The pope rested well, all night," the Holy See said in a brief statement, on the 12th day of his hospitalization in Rome, the longest since he was elected the Catholic leader in 2013.

Doctors so far have not given a prognosis on the Argentine Jesuit, hospitalized Feb. 14 with respiratory difficulties and bronchitis, conditions that later worsened.

However, the Holy See offered a more optimistic update Monday, noting that Jorge Mario Bergoglio had experienced a slight improvement.

The Pope offered an audience

This Tuesday it was also known that the Pope signed the canonization of the Venezuelan Blessed José Gregorio Hernández, known as the doctor of the poor. Also that of the Italian Bartolo Longo. He did so in an audience with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, and Monsignor Edgar Peña Parra, substitute for General Affairs.

The Archdiocese of Caracas noted in a press release that the news that the Pope approved the favorable votes of the Ordinary Session of the Cardinal Fathers and Bishops of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints for the Canonization of Blessed José Gregorio Hernández Cisneros was confirmed in the Bulletin of the Press Office of the Holy See this Tuesday

Doctors have so far not given a prognosis on the Argentine Jesuit, hospitalized on February 14 with respiratory difficulties and bronchitis, conditions that later worsened.

However, the Holy See offered a more optimistic update Monday, noting that Jorge Mario Bergoglio had experienced a slight improvement.

The medical report

Similarly, it was learned that Pope Francis had received blood transfusions to raise his hemoglobin levels.

"The thrombocytopenia remains stable, however some blood tests show a mild and early renal failure, which is currently under control," the press release stated.

The health condition of the head of the Catholic Church, hospitalized since Feb. 14, deteriorated on Saturday with a prolonged asthmatic attack that required high-flow oxygen.