Since being admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Feb. 14, Pope Francis has dedicated time to work and pray while being treated for bilateral pneumonia and other medical conditions. And as the world continues to pray for him throughout his prolonged hospitalization, the 88-year-old pontiff has asked people to remember to pray for God’s “gift of peace” for those suffering in the following countries:
Ukraine
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago on Feb. 24, 2022, Pope Francis has never failed to ask people to pray for “martyred Ukraine” and the millions of victims of war who have been killed, injured, or left homeless as a result of the ongoing conflict.
In January, the pope said his “wish for the year 2025” was for the entire international community to end the Russia-Ukraine war that has “caused so much bloodshed in war-torn Ukraine.” Since the outbreak of the war, the Holy Father has called for the release of all prisoners and accessible humanitarian assistance for those in need.
Though official numbers of Ukrainian and Russian war casualties are unknown, the Wall Street Journal reported in September 2024 that an estimated 1 million people have died or been injured since the large-scale Russian invasion. The United Nations has verified that at least 12,600 civilians have been killed and an additional 29,390 civilians injured since February 2022.
“A painful and shameful occasion for the whole of humanity!” the pope shared in his Feb. 23 Angelus message from Gemelli Hospital. “I reiterate my closeness to the suffering people of Ukraine.”
Democratic Republic of Congo
The Congo’s complex humanitarian situation — exacerbated by natural disasters, armed conflicts, and epidemics — has not gone unnoticed for the pontiff who visited the central African nation in 2023.
The Holy Father has often addressed the plight of the Congolese to pilgrims who come to the Vatican to attend his general audiences or to pray the Sunday Angelus with him in St. Peter’s Square.
On Feb. 14, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported more than 21.2 million people in the Congo are in need of aid.
Amid the country’s worsening humanitarian situation after the fall of Goma, in North Kivu, and Bukavu, in South Kivu, to M23 forces backed by Rwandan fighters, Aid to the Church in Need reported Christians have been targeted by armed groups after more than 70 people were massacred in a Protestant church and an additional 100 people taken hostage by terrorists in North Kivu last month.
Myanmar (Burma)
Pope Francis is the first pontiff to visit the majority-Buddhist southeast Asian nation that has been afflicted by heightened political unrest and violence since a 2021 military coup that thwarted the country’s transition toward democratic rule.
Appealing to warring parties to lay down their arms, the pope has asked the international community to remember the country’s elderly, children, sick, and the Rohingya ethnic minority.
More than 18.6 million people, 6 million of whom are children, are in need of humanitarian aid, according to a Feb. 21 report published by United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
Sudan
Pope Francis said “the ongoing conflict in Sudan, which began in April 2023, is causing the most serious humanitarian crisis in the world, with dramatic consequences in South Sudan too” and during his Jan. 26 Angelus address renewed his appeal to those who are at war in Sudan to negotiate peace and end the hostilities.
In a March 10 report, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the conflict in Sudan has “caused the world’s largest and fastest-growing displacement crisis, with 12.8 million forcibly displaced.” WHO reported the country’s malnutrition rates are “among the highest globally,” with 4.9 million children under 5 and pregnant women “acutely malnourished.”
Attacks on health care facilities also contributed to the August 2024 outbreak of cholera in the north African nation that has led to 1,500 deaths out of the 55,000 cases reported, according to UNICEF.
Palestine
The impact of the decades-long political instability and violence in Gaza and the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) — two Palestinian territories occupied by Israel since 1967 — is a concern close to the heart of the 88-year-old pope.
Since the Oct. 7, 2023, declaration of the Israel-Hamas war, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights’ February 2025 reportstates more than 100,000 people have been injured in the conflict. According to the report at least 34,399 Palestinians — the majority of them women and children — were killed in Gaza between Nov. 1, 2023, and Oct. 31, 2024.
While undergoing complex medical treatment at Gemelli Hospital, the Holy Father continues to make a daily call to the Holy Family Church in Gaza to check in on their welfare as approximately 600 people are still seeking shelter at the parish.
During a Dec. 6, 2024, Aid to the Church in Need press conference, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, told journalists the pope’s calls are “a very big support” for the community of Gaza.
Israel
Unable to read his Jan. 9 address to the diplomatic corp earlier this year due to a persistent cold, in his prepared speech the pontiff nevertheless stressed his great desire for peace in the country, a permanent cease-fire, and the release of Israeli hostages detained in Gaza.
More than 250 Israelis were taken hostage following Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. At least 1,200 Israelis were killed on the same day, according to a BBC report. The attack, which sparked Israel’s declaration of war against the extreme Islamic terrorist group, was strongly condemned by the Holy Father.
”My prayerful hope is that Israelis and Palestinians can rebuild the bridges of dialogue and mutual trust,” the Holy Father expressed in his 2025 speech. “So that future generations can live side by side in the two states, in peace and security.”
Praying for harmony and mutual respect among Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the Holy Land has been a daily prayer of the pope since the early years of his pontificate. Following his 2014 pilgrimage to the Holy Land, the Holy See invited former President of Israel Shimon Peres, President of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas, and Patriarch Bartholomew I to the Vatican for the Invocation of Peace.
This article was originally published on Catholic News Agency.
