World

Anxious Prayers as Pope Francis Lingers in Critical Condition

Published

1 year ago

February 25, 2025

Anxious Prayers as Pope Francis Lingers in Critical Condition

Vatican City is an anxious place. Clergy keep their phones by their pillows. Reporters, crammed in the Holy See press office, open emails with trepidation. Faithful have begun to gather expectantly in St. Peter’s Square.

All await terse bulletins from the Vatican on the condition of Pope Francis, who remains critical after being taken to a hospital 11 days ago with bronchitis that developed into pneumonia in both lungs. On Monday afternoon, hours before the Vatican reported a “slight improvement,” the phones of Vatican officials buzzed with texts falsely reporting Francis’ death.

Francis, who now has the beginnings of kidney failure and infections, may yet recover. On Tuesday night, the Vatican said Francis was in “critical but stable” condition. In its nightly medical bulletin, the Vatican said he underwent a follow-up CT scan in the afternoon to check the lung infection, and that he had resumed his “work activities” in the morning.

For veterans of papal transitions, the daily health bulletins, the influx of global media, the rampant speculation and the special prayer services have a familiar and ominous feel.

“These are delicate moments,” said Duban Corredor, a 27-year-old seminarian from Colombia, who came to St. Peter’s Square on Monday night to pray the rosary for Francis, who he noted had always concluded his conversations and remarks with an appeal to “pray for me.”

The seminarian said he had assisted Francis during a Christmas Eve prayer service and saw him deeply tired, but also at peace. “I don’t think it will be long — I think he’s preparing for a moment of tranquillity, knowing that this is the end of his life.”

On a damp Monday evening, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s second-in-command, who is a fixture in the increasing speculation about who might replace Francis, led cardinals, bishops and a few thousand faithful in front of St. Peter’s Basilica in a rosary prayer for the pope’s health.

Under an intermittent drizzle, the cardinal knelt before a portrait of the Madonna and child and addressed the crowd, made up largely of priests, nuns and pilgrims.

“For 2,000 years the Christian people have prayed for the pope when he was in danger or sick,” said Cardinal Parolin, adding that now the time had come to pray for Francis “in this moment of illness and trial.”

Francis is the 266th pope to lead the Roman Catholic Church, and for much of the church’s history, especially when the papacy acted as a monarchy directly and indirectly governing large swaths of land, the death of a pope could transform the fortunes of powerful aristocrats, change the direction of a powerful state, or even determine where the church had its headquarters.

“The upheaval that follows the death of the pope today is incomparably different from what might have happened” centuries ago, said Agostino Paravicini Bagliani, a church historian. He said that in some cases a pope’s death would be kept a secret, for fear that a papal entourage, or at times even the population of Rome, might ransack the Apostolic Palace. “A papal death provoked all sorts of problems.”

In the modern era, long after the pope lost his temporal powers, transitions have run more smoothly. Now a change at the top, while having great consequence for the priorities, vision and ideological complexion of the church, is unlikely to have much geopolitical impact. Still, the last days of a pope attract pilgrims, and news media, from all over the world to Rome, and they focus the faithful’s attention on their spiritual leader.

Cardinals said the rosary before the passing of Pope John XXIII in 1963. It was during a similar prayer session in St. Peter’s Square in 2005 that Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, then the under secretary of state for the Vatican, announced the death of Pope John Paul II after his final days of agony.

The once vigorous Polish pope had long suffered from Parkinson’s disease: He had lost his ability to speak clearly and often appeared hunched and ailing. His failing health had been a subject of morbid attention for years.

“It was so weird,” said Father Paul Alger, a 42-year-old priest from Augusta, Ga., who studied theology in Rome and recalled those years as a perennial papal death watch.

Francis, who initially speculated that he would have a short pontificate, has instead led the church for a dozen eventful and busy years. For the first years, he crisscrossed the globe, met with world leaders and played an active role in championing the issues he cared most about, especially on behalf of migrants and the marginalized.

But a bad knee and sciatica began to physically slow Francis down more recently. He began to depend on a cane and a walker and then a wheelchair.

Francis had colon surgery in 2021 and was operated on again two years later for a hernia that developed because of that surgery. Throughout, he kept up a demanding schedule, but his breathing became belabored, as he struggled with respiratory infections and now an explosion of pneumonia and infections that has put him in critical condition.

The faithful and clerics in attendance on Monday preferred to focus on Francis’ life rather than what seemed the end of it. Bishop Manuel Nin, the apostolic exarch to the Greek Byzantine Catholic Church, called it “unhealthy” to fixate on something that was ultimately “in God’s hands.”

But some clerics worried this latest downturn could be Francis’ last.

“They say he had a good night, he is resting, but at the same time it is clear his prognosis is not good,” said Bishop Earl Fernandes of Columbus, Ohio, who also attended the rosary in St. Peter’s Square. “It’s the beginning of the end.”

Bishop Fernandes, who said he follows “the news about the pope in multiple languages every day,” speculated that even if Francis were to get better, it would be harder for him to be around people, something Francis “always loved,” he said.

“That itself would kill him,” the bishop added.

A solemnity pervaded St. Peter’s Square, rain slicked the cobbled stones and the faithful chanted invocations to the Virgin Mary. A pair of swooping gulls cawed. In the surrounding palaces, private speculation about who might replace Francis began, ideological camps taking shape. But the event provided a public forum for the church’s leaders, of all political persuasions, to rally around the pope in his time of need.

Among the cardinals beside Cardinal Parolin on the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica on Monday evening were prelates who often appeared on short lists to replace Francis, including Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines. But there were also cardinals with whom Francis has clashed for a decade, including the American Cardinal Raymond Burke, the de facto leader of the opposition to the pope’s agenda.

“When someone is dying, all that is said and done,” Father Alger said, comparing the church to a family that rallies around a dying father no matter the divisions at home. “He is the Holy Father and he is in trouble. Death has a way of making clear what matters.”

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World

French elections: Paris stays left as far right makes mixed gains

Published

52 minutes ago

March 23, 2026

Press Room

French elections: Paris stays left as far right makes mixed gains

France’s municipal runoff delivered a mixed verdict for the country’s main political forces on Sunday: the Left held Paris with Socialist Emmanuel Grégoire, the far-right and its allies scored a major symbolic win in Nice, and mainstream parties pointed to resilience in several big and mid-sized cities ahead of the 2027 presidential race.

Municipal elections in France are local contests to elect mayors and local councils, but they are closely watched because they test party organisation, alliance-building, and grassroots strength before national campaigns begin.

In the capital, Socialist Emmanuel Grégoire defeated conservative rival Rachida Dati, ensuring Paris remains under left-wing control after outgoing mayor Anne Hidalgo chose not to seek another term.

The result extends a quarter-century of left-led rule of the capital and hands to the Socialists one of the most visible prizes of the night. Grégoire presented the result as a mandate for a progressive vision of the city.

Elsewhere, the left also had reasons to celebrate. In Marseille, Socialist incumbent Benoît Payan was re-elected after the far right had hoped to seize France’s second-largest city.

While in Lyon, Green mayor Grégory Doucet held on after a hard-fought race against his conservative rival, which was reshaped by a last-minute merger with the list of hard-left party France Unbowed.

Socialists record strong showing

The Socialists also held or performed strongly in several regional cities, reinforcing the impression of a broader recovery for the traditional left.

For the far right, the picture was more complex. National Rally (RN) leader Jordan Bardella hailed what he called the party’s biggest local breakthrough, and RN kept the southwestern city of Perpignan while also winning smaller municipalities.

But the party fell short in several of the larger cities it had targeted, notably Marseille, Toulon and Nîmes. The exception was Nice, where Éric Ciotti — once a senior figure in the mainstream right and now allied with RN — won the race, giving the far right and its partners control of France’s fifth-largest city.

The elections also brought clearer signs of fragmentation on the centre-right and in President Emmanuel Macron’s camp.

Former prime minister Édouard Philippe was re-elected in Le Havre, strengthening his standing as a possible 2027 contender, while Macron’s centrist forces could point to a symbolic win in Bordeaux, where Renaissance candidate Thomas Cazenave defeated outgoing Green mayor Pierre Hurmic.

At the same time, the loss of Macron’s former PM, François Bayrou, in southwestern Pau, underlined the vulnerabilities of the broader presidential alliance.

Turnout remained a concern. According to the Interior Ministry, participation in mainland France stood at 48.1% at 5 p.m., higher than the Covid-disrupted 2020 election but still below pre-pandemic levels.

Taken together, the results do not predict who will succeed Macron in 2027. But they do sketch the political landscape from which that contest will emerge: a left that can still win major cities, a mainstream right that remains locally entrenched, a centre searching for durable footholds, and a far right that is growing but may still face limits in the country’s biggest urban battlegrounds.

World

Iran War Live Updates: Tehran Is Defiant After Trump Threatens Power Plants

Published

11 hours ago

March 22, 2026

Press Room

President Trump said that he would “obliterate” Iran’s electricity plants if it did not open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. Iran dismissed the ultimatum as its missiles hit southern Israel, including near the country’s main nuclear research center.

World

Analysts say Gaza ‘civilian’ deaths include Hamas, other terror members working as medics, media workers

Published

12 hours ago

March 22, 2026

Press Room

Analysts say Gaza ‘civilian’ deaths include Hamas, other terror members working as medics, media workers

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As Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) publicly claim their dead, new research shows that many previously counted as civilians were in fact members of the terrorist organizations, undermining accusations that Israeli forces deliberately targeted civilians in Gaza.

Researchers monitoring the Hamas-run health ministry’s death reports told Fox News Digital that a growing number of “martyrs” were exposed as terrorists by their own groups such as Hamas, despite maintaining public identities as healthcare or media workers.

Gabriel Epstein, senior policy associate at Israel Policy Forum, told Fox News Digital that he has tracked multiple individuals named by Hamas and PIJ as martyrs killed in battle in Gaza who held positions in the health industry, including nongovernmental organizations (NGOs.)

US-BACKED GAZA AID GROUP SLAMS DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS, ACCUSES IT OF SPREADING ‘FALSE’ CLAIMS

Smoke rises and ball of fire over buildings in Gaza City on Oct. 9, 2023, during an Israeli air strike. (Sameh Rahmi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Epstein found several individuals labeled as medical staff who are also members of terrorist groups. The most serious revelation from the martyr list is Fadi al-Wadiyya, a physiotherapist for Médecins sans frontières, who was killed by Israel Defense Forces in June 2024. MSF responded to the death, saying they were “outraged” and “strongly condemn[ed] the killing of our colleague.”

When the IDF claimed that al-Wadiyya was a member of PIJ, MSF said they had “no prior knowledge” of his “alleged involvement in military activities” and said they had “not received any formal explanation” of “the circumstances of his killing.”

In a Telegram account claiming to be the media reserve for the Al-Quds Brigades, a post mourning al-Wadiyya’s martyrdom on Feb. 24 lists the physiotherapist as an assistant to the military manufacturing unit of PIJ’s Al-Quds Brigades.

Fox News Digital asked MSF whether they were aware of al-Wadiyya’s PIJ connections prior to the martyr announcement. A spokesperson said, “We would not knowingly employ people engaging in military activity” as it “would pose a danger to our staff and patients by compromising our neutrality.”

HAMAS TERRORISTS USE AMBULANCES, SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS IN VIOLATION OF US-BROKERED CEASEFIRE, IDF OFFICIAL SAYS

Hamas terrorists march in Gaza during a parade. (Getty Images)

The spokesperson said that “MSF had no indication that Fadi Al Wadiya might have been involved in military activity of any kind prior to the Israeli authorities’ online posts in June 2024. In the immediate aftermath of Al-Wadiya’s killing, we asked for explanations from the Israeli authorities, but never received an official response. If the Israeli authorities were aware of Al-Wadiya’s links with militant activities, they never shared this info with us until after he was killed. To this day, the only information they shared and that we are aware of is what was shared through public social media posts.”

The IDF banned MSF operations in Gaza from the beginning of March because the organization refused to provide a list of its Palestinian employees. In response to Fox News Digital’s questions about whether they would consider providing this list to the IDF presently, MSF’s spokesperson said, “We did not share our staff lists with Israel because we did not receive concrete assurances to ensure the safety of our staff or the independent management of our operations. This is a place where humanitarian workers have frequently been detained, attacked, and killed. We have a responsibility to protect our colleagues from harm.”

Epstein shared several other cases of healthcare workers who played prominent roles in terror groups.

MEDICAL NGO THAT SLAMMED ISRAEL’S ANTI-TERROR RAID NOW QUITS GAZA HOSPITAL OVER ARMED OPERATIVES

Ambulances carrying patients from Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahya, Gaza City. Oct. 12, 2024. (Hamza Z. H. Qraiqea/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Mohammed Akram Abdullah al-Kafarna was mourned by the Palestinian Nursing and Midwifery Association’s Facebook page as the nursing supervisor at Kamal Adwan Hospital and by the Institute for Palestine Studies as head of the Gaza nursing system. A Telegram account that lists members of Hamas’ best-outfitted Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, al-Kafarna is described as one of Beit Hanoun’s “Qassam Martyrs.”

Ayman Suleiman Aliyan Abu Tayr was listed as martyred in Khan Younis in June 2025. The Institute for Palestine Studies labels him as a nurse and head of the clinical nutrition department at Nasser Hospital. According to a Telegram account linked to PIJ’s Al-Quds Brigades, Abu Tayr was a Commander in the Central Operations Unit of the Al-Quds Brigades.

Jaber Abdulhamid Diab Mohammedin was mourned on the Palestinian Ministry of Health General Directorate of Nursing’s Facebook page as an Intensive Care Unit nurse at the Al-Rantisi Specialized Children’s Hospital. A Telegram account linked to the Islamic Jihad Movement lists Mohammedin as a commander in the military manufacturing unit of the PIJ’s Al-Quds Brigade.

Nidal Jaber Abdulfattah al-Najjar is labeled as an administrator at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, according to the Institute for Palestine Studies, while a mourner on Facebook noted that he worked in the Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital. He is labeled on a Telegram account emblazoned with Hamas’ distinctive red triangle as a martyr commander of Hamas’ Al-Radwan Battalion.

IDF forces are seen operating in Rafah, in the Gaza Strip. (IDF Spokesman’s Unit)

Salo Aizenberg, director of media watchdog group HonestReporting, told Fox News Digital that he is tracking at least 10 “virtually indisputable” examples of journalists who are actually combatants, working with Hamas and other terrorist groups.

David Adesnik, vice president of research for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that he has also been tracking the disclosures. “With PIJ, the number of commanders who operated with civilian cover is striking,” Adesnik said. “We’re at a point where the evidence indicates that this duplicity was a routine part of a strategy to infiltrate civilian organization, especially humanitarian ones. This provides access and protection while ensuring outrage when these supposed humanitarians are killed.”

Adesnik said he believes it “likely that Hamas also employed this strategy in a systematic way, but right now we mainly have the PIJ disclosures. Given that Hamas is many times larger, if it were to disclose this kind of information, the effects could easily ripple across the humanitarian sector in Gaza.”

Among the cases Aizenberg is tracking are media workers. He said that his list is “based solely on admissions by those groups and other Gazan sources,” and “does not include the many additional examples identified through Israeli evidence.”

Yahya Sinwar, the former Hamas terror leader who was killed by the IDF, waves to a crowd in Gaza. (Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Though the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) cites Yacoup Al-Borsch as a journalist and the executive director of Namaa Radio, Aizenberg has found “numerous social media posts and martyr notices identifying him as a fighter and ‘mujahid.’” This includes a Facebook post from an account affiliated with the Al-Omari Mosque in Jabalia.

Ahmed Abu Sharia was a freelancer who worked for outlets like Iranian Tasnim News Agency, the CPJ says. According to the “official” Telegram site of the Mujahideen Brigades, the Palestinian Mujahideen movement’s military wing, he was also a member of the Mujahideen Brigades.

Rizq Abu Shakian was a “media worker and administrator for the pro-Hamas Palestine Now Agency,” according to CPJ. Shakian also appears in Hamas uniform on a Telegram site that shares images of Palestinian martyrs. According to Aizenberg’s research, he was a member of the Al-Qassam Brigades.

In response to questions about whether CPJ would update listings of journalists who have been claimed as terror affiliates, the group directed Fox News Digital to its policy for updating listings, which states, “CPJ has a long-standing policy of updating its data and the accompanying narrative accounts without issuing formal corrections as new information becomes available over time. In certain cases, a record may be removed from public view when new information leads CPJ to determine that a case falls outside its mandate or for security concerns, such as the safety of the journalist and their family. CPJ will publicly record when it has removed a journalist from the database for a reason outside of security concerns. “

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As the shaky ceasefire in Gaza continues, analysts say they continue to place value in closely examining the war’s casualties. Epstein said that “reviewing cases of militants who held dual civilian roles in key sectors like media, healthcare and education is important for the historical record and underscores the information limitations press, government, and analysts face in real time during conflict.” He said that “over time, militant identification can give a sense of just how deep Hamas, PIJ and other militant groups’ hold over key sectors in Gaza was.”

Beth Bailey is a reporter covering Afghanistan, the Middle East, Asia, the United Nations, Central America and antisemitism. She was formerly a civilian intelligence analyst with the Department of the Army. You can follow Beth on X @BWBailey85