By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-16 15:46:24 | Updated at 2025-03-17 04:22:33
13 hours ago
Dozens of children toting yellow and white balloons – many from war-torn countries – gathered outside Rome’s Gemelli hospital to greet Pope Francis on his fifth Sunday hospitalised with double pneumonia.
While the pope did not appear from the 10th-floor suite of windows, he thanked them and acknowledged their presence in the traditional Sunday blessing.
“I know that many children are praying for me; some of them came here today to Gemelli as a sign of closeness,’’ the pontiff said in the Angelus text prepared for the traditional prayer but not delivered live again.
“Thank you, dearest children! The pope loves you and is always waiting to meet you,’’ Francis said.
The Reverend Enzo Fortunato, president of the pontifical committee for World Children’s Day who organised the event, said that the gathering of children with their parents was a form of spiritual medicine for the 88-year-old pontiff.
He called it ‘’the most beautiful caress’’.
