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15 Mar
Pope Francis is receiving „thousands“ of letters a day from around the world as he slowly recovers from pneumonia in a Rome hospital, said Italy’s postal service.
The 88-year-old pontiff marked one month in Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Friday, where doctors now consider his condition stable and slowly improving after a critical period marked by breathing crises that risked his life.
Well-wishers have been flooding the city’s postal service with letters „from the time of his hospitalisation until today,“ the postal service said in a statement.
The postal service’s Fiumicino sorting centre was feeling the „surge“ in correspondence, with „up to 150 kilograms more mail per day,“ said the unit’s head, Antonello Chidichimo.
The statement said:
In a bit of self-promotion, the postal service said it was playing a „fundamental role… in ensuring that every message of support and prayer reaches its destination“.
The Vatican has yet to say when Francis could be released from the hospital, where he is in a special papal suite on the 10th floor.
On Friday, it again said the pope was „stable“ after passing a „quiet night“ but did not publish a medical bulletin in the evening as had been expected. The press office later said there was „no striking news to report“.
READ | Ailing Pope Francis showing ‚good response to treatment‘ – Vatican
On Friday, the anniversary of Francis’s 12 years as pope, his favourite football team – Buenos Aires‘ San Lorenzo club – posted a video message of support. Other messages arrived from Brazilian footballer Neymar and Italy’s former player and manager Ciro Ferrara.
The Argentine pontiff has previously thanked well-wishers for their letters and prayers, noting their „affection and closeness“.
In February, 10 days after Francis was hospitalised, the Vatican published a message he had written in which he cited the „many messages of affection.“
„I have been particularly struck by the letters and drawings from children,“ wrote Francis.
15 Mar
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