Expressing deep sadness, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. joined the world in calling for prayers for the recovery and well-being of Pope Francis.

“It is sad to hear of the serious illness of Pope Francis. At this time, we join the entire world in praying for his strength and recovery,” he said.

“May the Lord continue to guide and strengthen him to continue in his mission of faith and love for humanity,” he added.

The latest reports from the Vatican said Francis remained in critical condition with blood tests showing early kidney failure.

The leader of the Catholic Church remains alert, responsive, and attended Sunday Mass.

In a message published Sunday but written in the past few days, Francis thanked hospital staff and said he had confidence in his treatment.

“I am confidently continuing my hospitalization at the Gemelli Hospital, carrying on with the necessary treatment — and rest is also part of the therapy,” he said.

“I ask you to pray for me,” he concluded in the text published in lieu of his weekly Sunday Angelus, which he normally delivered from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.

The 88-year-old Pope has been battling pneumonia and a complex lung infection. He has not had a respiratory crisis since Saturday evening but was still receiving high flows of supplemental oxygen.

2014 meeting

Marcos had met Pope Francis during a family trip to Rome, Italy in 2014. The Pope visited the Philippines a year later.

Pope Francis’s condition “remains critical,” the Vatican said Sunday on his 10th day in hospital as Catholics around the world prayed for his recovery.

The Argentine pontiff during the day was given two units of concentrated red blood cells and his thrombocytopenia — a condition that occurs when the platelet count in the blood is too low — was stable, it said.

“However, some blood tests demonstrate an initial, mild renal failure which is currently under control,” the statement continued.

Francis is alert but “the complexity of the clinical picture, and the need to wait for the pharmacological treatments to have some effect, mean that the prognosis remains reserved,”, it concluded.

Well-wishers have been lighting candles outside the Gemelli, where Francis is staying in a special papal suite on the 10th floor, and where the Vatican said he took part in a Mass on Sunday morning.

“I am praying for him, for his health, because he is a special person for all of us,” Italian teacher Ilde Zito told AFP at the hospital.

In Iraq’s northern city of Mosul, a former bastion of the Islamic State group that Francis visited in 2021, at least a dozen churches held prayers for him.

“This is the least we can do to express our solidarity, love, and appreciation for this great person,” university professor Adnan Hadi said.

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum offered her hope on social media for a speedy recovery for the “great humanist” Francis, the first pope from the Americas.