Yesterday afternoon, in the atrium of the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father, Pope Francis met a group of children and youngsters who are patients at the Bambino Gesù Paediatric Hospital in Rome. The children were accompanied by their parents and the doctors who are caring for them. The children - who range in age from 5 years to 18 years old - are the stars of a RAI television series entitled I Ragazzi del Bambino Gesù (Baby Jesus' Children). The President of the Paediatric Hospital, Mariella Enoc and the Director General of RAI, Antonio Campo Dall'Orto were also present for the papal audience.
Following the presentation of a photograph, the Pope read the inscription that was written on the card which the children presented to him:
Dear Francis, thank you for meeting with us, we are happy to be here, because you give us hope and courage for tomorrow. We love you - thank you! - ... Baby Jesus' children.
(applause)
The Pope continued:
Thank you for the photograph, for this book, and also for the dedication ...
There are many stories. Each of you is a story. Not only the children who are sick, but also the doctors, the nurses, those who visit you, your families ...
I will say two things that I have in my mind right now.
One I have already said when you came ... Two months ago? ... on the 15th of December last year. I greeted you and Doctor Enoc was with me while I greeted you, as well as some doctors, and they introduced me to each person. They knew the names of each and every one of you: This one has been suffering with this illness for a long time ... They also knew what was going on in each person's life. And I felt - you also have already said this, and I want to repeat what you have said - I felt that this was more than a hospital, more like a family - that was one of the words that you yourselves said. It was more important for them to know your names, to know you, and only in the end did they say anything about your illnesses, almost in passing, like a secondary thing. You are a family, right?
And the other thing we saw just now, right? You were a bit ashamed to get up and to be seen on camera, and the director, who is a bit like your mother, came close to you and said: Come, and she gave you courage. This is beautiful to see in a family, beautiful ... We are always scared when we have to enter a hospital, I see it when I visit with children, not all of them but some of them, the little ones, who see me in white. They begin to cry: they think that I am a doctor who has come to give them a needle, and they cry and they are scared. I give them two hugs and they begin to calm down. The hospital has to continue functioning ... we need them ... and there is always a danger, a risk of forgetting the most important medicine which only a family can give: a hug! It is a very expensive medicine, because in order to get it, in order to be able to share it, you have to put yourself into it, put all your heart into it, all your love. You give yourself with your hugs! The caresses of the doctors, the nurses, the Director, everyone.
The Bambino Jesù hospital, in these past few months you have grown so much, you have become a family ... A child, a sick child encounters a family when he or she enters your hospital. Family and community, two words that you have said and repeated, and for this reason, I want to thank you, because the Bambino Jesù hospital is a witness, a human witness ... Human. It is a Catholic hospital, and in order to be Catholic, first you must be human, and you provide a human witness, today. Please, keep up the good work ... always, keep growing in this way.
Thank you, and before I greet you individually, because in a family everyone should have a chance to learn and to greet one another, I will ask Doctor Enoc to say something about the work that is being done in Syria ...
Doctor Enoc presented her explanations.
Afterwards, the Pope continued:
Did you see that she even used the Vatican heliport (laughter), and when there are children who need to reach the hospital quickly, they arrive by helicopter here and go the other way. They know how to do it, but not only you, everyone, because this spirit is contagious and even you have this contagion within you and you pass it on from one to another. You are a family! Who is most important in a family? The mother, the father, the older children, the grandparents, the little ones ... everyone is the most important, and you are all important, but always together.
Now, before I greet you individually, I will ask the Lord to bless you.
(Pope Francis gives his blessing)
And please pray for me, don't forget! Thank you.
Transcription of the conversation
between the Holy Father, Pope Francis
and the children who were gathered
Following the presentation of a photograph, the Pope read the inscription that was written on the card which the children presented to him:
Dear Francis, thank you for meeting with us, we are happy to be here, because you give us hope and courage for tomorrow. We love you - thank you! - ... Baby Jesus' children.
(applause)
The Pope continued:
Thank you for the photograph, for this book, and also for the dedication ...
There are many stories. Each of you is a story. Not only the children who are sick, but also the doctors, the nurses, those who visit you, your families ...
I will say two things that I have in my mind right now.
One I have already said when you came ... Two months ago? ... on the 15th of December last year. I greeted you and Doctor Enoc was with me while I greeted you, as well as some doctors, and they introduced me to each person. They knew the names of each and every one of you: This one has been suffering with this illness for a long time ... They also knew what was going on in each person's life. And I felt - you also have already said this, and I want to repeat what you have said - I felt that this was more than a hospital, more like a family - that was one of the words that you yourselves said. It was more important for them to know your names, to know you, and only in the end did they say anything about your illnesses, almost in passing, like a secondary thing. You are a family, right?
And the other thing we saw just now, right? You were a bit ashamed to get up and to be seen on camera, and the director, who is a bit like your mother, came close to you and said: Come, and she gave you courage. This is beautiful to see in a family, beautiful ... We are always scared when we have to enter a hospital, I see it when I visit with children, not all of them but some of them, the little ones, who see me in white. They begin to cry: they think that I am a doctor who has come to give them a needle, and they cry and they are scared. I give them two hugs and they begin to calm down. The hospital has to continue functioning ... we need them ... and there is always a danger, a risk of forgetting the most important medicine which only a family can give: a hug! It is a very expensive medicine, because in order to get it, in order to be able to share it, you have to put yourself into it, put all your heart into it, all your love. You give yourself with your hugs! The caresses of the doctors, the nurses, the Director, everyone.
The Bambino Jesù hospital, in these past few months you have grown so much, you have become a family ... A child, a sick child encounters a family when he or she enters your hospital. Family and community, two words that you have said and repeated, and for this reason, I want to thank you, because the Bambino Jesù hospital is a witness, a human witness ... Human. It is a Catholic hospital, and in order to be Catholic, first you must be human, and you provide a human witness, today. Please, keep up the good work ... always, keep growing in this way.
Thank you, and before I greet you individually, because in a family everyone should have a chance to learn and to greet one another, I will ask Doctor Enoc to say something about the work that is being done in Syria ...
Doctor Enoc presented her explanations.
Afterwards, the Pope continued:
Did you see that she even used the Vatican heliport (laughter), and when there are children who need to reach the hospital quickly, they arrive by helicopter here and go the other way. They know how to do it, but not only you, everyone, because this spirit is contagious and even you have this contagion within you and you pass it on from one to another. You are a family! Who is most important in a family? The mother, the father, the older children, the grandparents, the little ones ... everyone is the most important, and you are all important, but always together.
Now, before I greet you individually, I will ask the Lord to bless you.
(Pope Francis gives his blessing)
And please pray for me, don't forget! Thank you.
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