After Pope Francis put out a call to be thoughtful about AI’s deployment, a delegation of Massachusetts public officials will be answering it. A local contingent assembled by UMass Boston chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco heads to the Vatican next week for an AI conference hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

The Argentine pope, a known workaholic who keeps up a grueling pace despite his many ailments, was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Friday after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened. It was his fourth hospitalization since his 2013 election and raised questions about his increasingly precarious health.

The mass followed a similar service on Tuesday evening at the church of the Argentine community in Rome, reflecting the global concern for Francis, who has led the Catholic Church since 2013

On Tuesday night, the faithful from Francis’ homeland gathered in the Argentine church of Rome for a special Mass presided over by Cardinal Baldassarre Reina, the pope’s vicar for Rome. Reina was also celebrating the lunchtime Mass on Wednesday at Gemelli to pray for Francis.

With concerns over the declining health of Pope Francis in Rome, the Buffalo Catholic Diocese offered a Mass for the pontiff on Tuesday at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Downtown Buffalo. Read more from WB

The 88-year-old pontiff, who has been hospitalized for more than a week, had a restful night after receiving oxygen and a blood transfusion on Saturday, the Vatican said.

Holy Family Parish in Louisville became a gathering place for dozens of Catholics, united in prayer for Pope Francis, who is currently hospitalized in critical condition with pneumonia.

Vance praised Pope Francis for a 2020 sermon, delivered during the Covid pandemic, that brought him solace after he stockpiled on ammunition and rice.