SALT LAKE CITY — People around the world gathered for Ash Wednesday, while the Pope was in the hospital battling pneumonia.
“It’s a hard time, you know? He’s our holy father and it seems like he has up days and down days, it’s hard to get your mind around once you’re accustomed to have someone around like that especially with the role he has,” Michael Augustine Amabisco, a priest at Juan Diego Catholic High School said. “It’s challenging, but it’s also an opportunity to grow in faith.”
Pope Francis, who has chronic lung disease, has been in the hospital since Feb. 14 for bronchitis. Over the last two weeks, his condition has worsened.
People gathered at Juan Diego Catholic High School for Ash Wednesday. One of those people was Miles Sears, a senior at the school, who says he doesn’t consider himself Catholic.
“I definitely have found God in different ways around campus,” Sears said.
However, he said he found God and religion while in his Theology class during his sophomore year. His teacher played a video of Pope Francis for the class.
“Just some of the stuff he talked about really resonated with me,” he said. “He was my first glimpse into religion.”
Amabisco reflected on the Pope’s condition.
“We feel his suffering. We think about the possibility of him not being with us anymore,” Amabisco said. “And we’re just trying to process all those things. There’s a lot going on.”
Abby Quercia, a senior at the school said the news impacts her grandmother the most. Two years ago, her grandmother visited Rome with a group of friends simply to see the Pope.
“It’s definitely scary for her because ever since she was a little girl, this is all she’s ever known,” Quercia said.
