Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, said that “absolutely, things in [the] West Bank are worse. When the ceasefire started in Gaza, they [Israeli forces] started operations in the West Bank, with hundreds of checkpoints, and operations in Jenin.”

“We have seen more annexation of land in the West Bank, as well as the eviction of around 16,000 people from refugee camps in Jenin, with the physical infrastructure being razed, so they have nowhere to return to,” added Sami El-Yousef, CEO of the Latin Patriarchate. “The West Bank is now completely fragmented with 185 gates and over 900 checkpoints, but because of what has been going on in Gaza, none of this gets much international attention.”

Warning that “the lives of our brothers and sisters hang in the balance,” Catholic Relief Services (CRS) urged the faithful to “tell Congress to urge the administration to halt and reverse all terminations” of foreign aid.

“It is the collective responsibility of the international community to ensure that the atrocities of the past are not repeated, and that future generations are protected from the catastrophic consequences of nuclear warfare,” said Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations.

Archbishop Caccia also spoke of the “worrying resurgence of deterrence-based rhetoric, which in turn has reignited the dangerous specter of nuclear threats.” He warned that “the disarmament architecture is being severely undermined, while military expenditures are rising dramatically ... funds that could instead be used to tackle urgent global challenges, including poverty and hunger.”

The papal audience was cancelled because of the Pope’s hospitalization for double pneumonia. But the Vatican press office released the text that he was to have delivered—which had been prepared well in advance.

In that text the Pope spoke about the finding of Jesus in the Temple, calling attention to the role of Mary as “a pilgrim of hope,” who becomes “the first of his disciples.”

Commenting on how Mary and Joseph worried about the disappearance of Jesus, the Pope wrote:

Mary and Joseph do not understand: the mystery of God made child exceeds their intelligence. The parents want to protect that precious son under the wings of their love; instead, Jesus wants to live His vocation as the Son of the Father who is at His service and lives immersed in His Word.

The Kafanchan diocese confirmed on March 5 that Father Okechukwu had been killed. Neither the identity of his assailants nor the motive for the crime are known.

The kidnapping occurred just two days after another priest and a seminarian were abducted in Nigeria’s Edo state (see today’s separate CWN headline). Two other priests, kidnapped in Nigeria on February 22, remain missing.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis has not had any further respiratory crises a day after he experienced two of them, the Vatican said, and his condition remained "stable."

The 88-year-old pope "presented no episodes of respiratory insufficiency or bronchospasm," the Vatican said in its evening medical bulletin March 4. He remained without fever, was "always alert, cooperating with therapy and oriented."

Still, his doctors at Rome's Gemelli hospital said that his "prognosis remains guarded."

The bulletin said the pope had "switched to high-flow oxygen therapy" in the morning and performed "respiratory physiotherapy," which often consists of breathing exercises. 

Pope Francis had suffered "two episodes of acute respiratory insufficiency" March 3, which occurs when the lungs are unable to effectively take in sufficient oxygen or expel enough carbon dioxide to meet the body's needs.

Those crises led doctors to put the pope back on "noninvasive mechanical ventilation" -- a treatment that delivers air with added oxygen through a tightly fitted face mask and using positive pressure to assist breathing. He also underwent two bronchoscopies that day but "remained alert, oriented and cooperative at all times," the Vatican said.

Although the pope no longer needed oxygen through a breathing mask during the day March 4, the Vatican said in its evening bulletin that "as planned, noninvasive mechanical ventilation will be resumed until tomorrow morning."

"He alternated between prayer and rest during the day and received the Eucharist this morning," it added. 

A Vatican source said that tests showed Pope Francis' heart and kidney function to be stable. Doctors previously detected mild kidney impairment, and a low platelet count in the pope's blood, but those issues seemed to be under control.

The pope did not receive any visitors in the hospital March 4, the source added. 

A group of Argentine faithful placed a statue of Our Lady of Luján, the patroness of Argentina, at the base of the St. John Paul II statue below the pope's room at the Gemelli hospital, Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported March 4. The group reportedly assembled a small altar, lit a candle on it and prayed the rosary for the Argentine pope.

The Vatican also announced that the March 9-14 Lenten retreat for senior members of the Roman Curia would go ahead in "spiritual communion with the Holy Father," who has been hospitalized since Feb. 14.

The theme, "The hope of eternal life," was chosen "weeks ago," said Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office.

The retreat is scheduled to take place in the Vatican's Paul VI Audience Hall and be led by Capuchin Father Roberto Pasolini, the new preacher of the papal household.

Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, was scheduled to lead the nightly recitation of the rosary for Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square March 4.