(ZENIT News – SIR / Rome, 06.03.2025).- “The prayer for the Pope is a beautiful fresco of the Church’s unity. Notwithstanding the different sensibilities and the different roles, we are all together as brothers, praying for our Shepherd. This is the most important of all,” said Monsignor Edgar Peña Parra, Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, who is one of the few authoritative collaborators to visit Pope Francis in the Gemelli Hospital. Also because of that, he knows even better the value of prayer being raised these days for the Holy Father. It’s not only a gesture of affection, but a sign of ecclesial communion.
Excellency, the whole world is praying for Pope Francis’ health. Is it a prayer that expresses the profound bond between the People of God and its Shepherd?
These days we are witnessing a very special attention to the Pope’s health, from all parts of the world, and this closeness is expressed especially through prayer. In fact, for us believers, prayer isn’t a ritual and external gesture, but a living relationship with the Lord who, in His love, makes us all brothers and opens us to compassion and reciprocal solidarity. In this connection, the Pope has always asked us to pray for him and now, in the trial of his illness, he himself is sustained by the Church’s prayer.
What does this reciprocity in faith mean and how does prayer become a concrete sign of closeness?
We all remember, as an extraordinary moment, the afternoon of that March 13 twelve years ago, with a crowded Saint Peter’s Square that broke out in joy at the announcement of the election but that, immediately after, at the request of the Pope himself who had just appeared [on the balcony] fell silent to pray for him and bless him. Today, while Pope Francis is put to the test with illness, that Square is crowded again with numerous faithful, who gather every afternoon to pray the Rosary, led by the Pope’s brothers and his closest collaborators, namely, the Cardinals.
You visited the Pontiff during these days of hospitalization . . .
I was able to meet with him during my visits to the Gemelli together with the Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin. The Holy Father was very grateful for these initiatives of prayer and I believe that, for him, it’s a great sign of consolation that the Lord gives him.
Last Sunday in the Angelus, the Pope said: “I feel in my heart the “blessing” that is hidden in frailty, because it is precisely in these moments when we learn even more to trust in the Lord.” How should these words be read in the light of his witness of faith in illness?
As every human being, bearing in his body the signs of frailty and illness, the Pope wants to be again a witness of the Gospel, and for this he proclaims the Lord’s loving presence, who takes care of us and does not leave us alone in the moments of trial.
Is this a message of hope for those being tested by pain?
It is a testimony that encourages and sustains all those that are suffering and refreshes their heart. The Pope, who so many times in his Magisterium, has reminded us of the Lord’s mercy and tenderness, also wants to remind us, in the moment of illness, that the Lord takes care of us and never abandon us.
In addition to being an act of affection and intercession, can prayer for the Pope also become an opportunity of spiritual renewal for the Church?
When we live moments of trial, experiences of suffering and situations in which we feel our frailty, we begin to realize what is important in our life, to give due importance to all things.
Is it a time of testing that can strengthen ecclesial communion and every believer’s sense of responsibility?
Prayer for the Pope is a beautiful fresco of the Church’s unity. Notwithstanding the different sensibilities end the different roles, we are all together, as brothers, praying for our Shepherd. This is the most important of all.
Translation of the Italian original into Spanish by ZENIT’s Editorial Director and, into English, by Virginia M. Forrester
