Concern for sick Pope: Believers pray in Buenos Aires

In Buenos Aires, believers are praying for their former archbishop - the seriously ill Pope Francis. The 88-year-old is battling bilateral pneumonia in a hospital in Rome.

Numerous believers prayed for the ailing Pope Francis at an open-air mass in Buenos Aires . "In this square, the Pope, as Cardinal Bergoglio, reached out to the marginalized and the suffering," said the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Ignacio García Cuerva, at the service in Plaza Constitución in the center of the Argentine capital. "In this square, his prophetic voice was always heard, denouncing exclusion and injustice."

Pope Francis has been treated for bilateral pneumonia in a Rome hospital for a week and a half. Doctors describe the health of the head of the Catholic Church as critical. Before his election as Pope , Jorge Mario Bergoglio - Francis' real name - was Archbishop of Buenos Aires. At 88 years of age, Francis is now the second oldest Pope in history.

"I pray for Pope Francis' recovery. We hope he gets better soon and comes to us," said a woman named Graciela, who attended the open-air mass. Uselina, from the Villa 21 slum, said: "Bergoglio always came and drank mate tea with us. He did a lot for us. We pray for him."