Catholics around the world have been gathering for days praying for Pope Francis’s recovery after facing faltering health.

Parishioners at Saints Simon and Jude Cathedral in Phoenix are leaning on their faith and praying for Pope Francis' health every day.

Concern for the ailing pope – leader of the world’s roughly 1.4 billion Catholics – has been pouring in from people of all religious backgrounds, according to Father John Muir, the vicar general of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix.

Pope Francis is in critical condition with a complex lung infection and anemia, receiving treatment in a Rome hospital.

For the fourth Sunday in a row, the pope will not appear for his weekly noon blessing, though the Vatican planned to distribute the text he would have delivered if he were well enough.