Cardinal Koch: 'Suffering of illness' a great challenge for aging Pope Francis
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Hundreds of people gather to pray the rosary for Pope Francis' health on Thursday, March 6, 2025, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAVatican City, Mar 12, 2025 / 13:20 pm (CNA).Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, reflected Tuesday on the great challenge of illness and suffering for Pope Francis as he approaches a month's hospital stay amid a series of health crises.Before leading Tuesday evening's recitation of rosary, held inside the Vatican's Paul VI Audience Hall, Koch drew parallels in the lives of Pope Francis and St. Peter."Truly, truly, I say to you when you were young, you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go," Koch said, citing Jn 21:18. Commenting on the Gospel account when the resurrected Jesus asked Peter, the first pope, to follow him until ...
Hundreds of people gather to pray the rosary for Pope Francis' health on Thursday, March 6, 2025, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Vatican City, Mar 12, 2025 / 13:20 pm (CNA).
Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, reflected Tuesday on the great challenge of illness and suffering for Pope Francis as he approaches a month's hospital stay amid a series of health crises.
Before leading Tuesday evening's recitation of rosary, held inside the Vatican's Paul VI Audience Hall, Koch drew parallels in the lives of Pope Francis and St. Peter.
"Truly, truly, I say to you when you were young, you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go," Koch said, citing Jn 21:18.
Commenting on the Gospel account when the resurrected Jesus asked Peter, the first pope, to follow him until the end, Koch asked: "How can we not recognize in these words, [is] in fact, what our Holy Father — the successor of Peter — is also experiencing and struggling with?"
"Of course the situations are different, but also the suffering of a serious illness is a great challenge," he said, before starting Tuesday's contemplation of the Rosary's sorrowful mysteries.
Since Feb. 24, a cardinal has presided over the daily recitation of the Rosary for the pope's health. Hundreds of local Catholic faithful and jubilee pilgrims from around the world have come to St. Peter's Square to join the evening prayers open to the public.
"We ask for the intercession of Mary, the mother of hope, for the health of Pope Francis," Koch prayed.
The 88-year-old pontiff has undergone various medical therapies to treat bronchitis, bilateral pneumonia, as well as mild kidney problems, since being admitted to Rome's Gemelli Hospital almost one month ago on Feb. 14.
Over the weeks, several Catholic faithful from Rome and abroad have also gathered outside Gemelli Hospital to pray for the Holy Father and have left behind written notes with well wishes, candles, and flowers before the St. John Paul II statue outside the facility.
Wednesday evening's Rosary at the Vatican was held at 6 p.m. local time and led by Cardinal ??George Jacob Koovakad, prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue.
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"The Charity of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary," painted by Edmund Leighton, circa 1895. / Credit: Edmund Leighton, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsCNA Staff, Nov 17, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).On Nov. 17, the Catholic Church celebrates the life and example of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, a medieval noblewoman who responded to personal tragedy by embracing St. Francis' ideals of poverty and service. A patron of secular Franciscans, she is especially beloved to Germans as well as the faithful of her native Hungary.As the daughter of the Hungarian King Andrew II, Elizabeth had the responsibilities of royalty thrust upon her almost as soon as her short life began in 1207. While she was still very young, her father arranged for her to be married to a German nobleman, Ludwig of Thuringia.The plan forced Elizabeth to separate from her parents while still a child. Adding to this sorrow was the murder of Elizabeth's mother, Gertrude, in 1213, which history ascribes to a conflict between her ow...
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Pope Leo XIV shares lunch with people in need at the Vatican on November 16, 2025. / Daniel IbáñezVatican City, Nov 16, 2025 / 11:15 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV had lunch on Sunday with more than 1,300 people experiencing poverty and social exclusion, gathering with them in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall for a festive meal marking the World Day of the Poor.The hall was transformed into a vast dining room for the occasion. The event was organized by the Congregation of the Mission on behalf of Vincentian missionaries worldwide, who this year celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of their congregation and of the Daughters of Charity. Volunteers served lasagna, breaded chicken with potatoes, and the traditional Italian dessert babà.As on similar occasions in past years, the Vatican, through the papal almoner Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, invited a group of transgender people from the Roman seaside town of Torvaianica. Father Andrea Conocchia, a parish priest in Torvaianica, to...
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Neuroscientist Kathlyn Gan says research shows music can help counter the mental decline that accompanies aging. / Credit: Terry O'NeillToronto, Canada, Nov 16, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).Sixteen hundred years ago, St. Augustine was credited with saying, "He who sings, prays twice." Today, scientific research shows that he who sings, performs, or listens to music also enriches and strengthens his brain, according to Catholic neuroscientist Kathlyn Gan.Not only that, but sacred music may produce even more beneficial effects.Gan, who leads a research laboratory at the University of Toronto, delivered the uplifting news to about 50 people at an Oct. 30 talk at St. Francis de Sales in Burnaby, Ontario.In her hourlong presentation "The Neuroscience of Sacred Music," Gan, a former choir director and accompanist, described how research showing that music can be part of a healthy lifestyle that helps counter the mental decline that accompanies aging.Music can also help prevent the onset of ...
