ROME – As the number of global COVID-19 coronavirus infections continues to rise, including among healthcare workers, Pope Francis in his daily Mass on Tuesday offered special prayers for nurses on International Nurses Day.

Speaking from the small chapel inside the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta guesthouse, the pope began his livestreamed Mass by asking that viewers join him in praying “for the nurses, men and women, girls and boys, who have this profession, which is more than a profession, it’s a vocation, a dedication.”

Francis’s appeal coincided with the celebration of the 109th International Nurses Day. Designated by the International Council of Nurses (ICN) in 1974, the day is marked annually May 12, the anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, considered to be the first “professional nurse.”

Typically, the ICN commemorates the day distributing healthcare resources and information on nursing; however, this year the day has taken on special significance due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Even before the coronavirus broke out, the World Health Organization had named 2020 the “Year of the Nurse” in honor of Nightingale’s 200th birthday.

In the Hubei province of China, where the coronavirus originated, 22 nurses who worked on the front lines the COVID-19 outbreak in China, as well as medical staff from various Shanghai hospitals, celebrated the day with a gathering in front of a statue of Nightingale at the Shanghai Oriental Land park.

Doctors and nurses have not only been on the front lines of the pandemic, but in many cases, they have been most at risk to due prolonged exposure to the virus, long hours with little sleep, and, in some cases, a shortage of personal protective equipment.

According to a statement from the ICN, as of May 6, at least 90,000 health-care workers worldwide are believed to have been infected with COVID-19, and around 260 nurses had lost their lives to the disease. However, ICN estimates that the numbers could be up to twice that, given shortages in protective equipment and the fact that new numbers are reported almost daily.

During his Mass, Pope Francis asked that “the Lord bless (nurses),” noting that, “In this time of pandemic, they have given an example of heroism and some have given their lives. Let us pray for nurses.”