As Pope Francis is in critical condition with an asthmatic respiratory crisis, Catholic communities worldwide and in Phoenix are praying for the 88-year-old pontiff they love so much.

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.

The Vatican says Pope Francis is responding well to therapy for double pneumonia and has shown a “gradual, slight improvement” in recent days.