Pope Leo XIV visited a Spanish teenager who was hospitalised during the Jubilee of Youth and prayed with and spoke to the family. Source: OSV News.
The Pope said that if the teen “had come all the way to Rome, then (the Pope) could come all the way to the hospital to see him,” Carmen Gloria Gonzálvez, the teen’s mother, told Vatican News on Monday..
“As a mother, I saw that Jesus Christ came close to me and said, ‘You are not alone.’ That’s what the Pope’s presence in the hospital meant to me: the confirmation that God has not abandoned us,” Carmen Gloria said.
During the evening prayer vigil in Rome’s Tor Vergata neighbourhood on Saturday, Pope Leo had asked people to pray for “a young Spanish man, Ignacio Gonzálvez,” who was admitted to the Vatican-owned Bambino Gesù Paediatric Hospital.
The Pope had also expressed his condolences during the vigil and the Sunday Angelus on August 3 for the deaths of two pilgrims: Pascale Rafic,18, from Egypt, who died on August 1 due to a heart condition, and Maria Cobo Vergara, 20, who had been ill for a few years. She was still able to travel to Rome with her parish for the Jubilee, but later felt unwell and returned to Spain, where she died on July 30.
“Both (pilgrims) chose to come to Rome for the Jubilee of Youth, and death has taken them in these days,” the Pope said at the vigil. “Let us pray together for them.”
After the Jubilee of Youth finished, Pope Leo went to the children’s hospital for a surprise visit.
Ignacio, 15, was in the intensive care unit and sedated after collapsing. Doctors said he had lymphoma affecting his respiratory system, and if he had not gone to the hospital when he did, he could have died.
His parents, two siblings and a priest were gathered around the teen’s bed, praying, when the Pope appeared.
Together they prayed the Hail Mary and Our Father, and the Pope blessed the family members and spoke about the Gospel, eternal life and God’s will, saying “We are made for heaven”.
Pope Leo spent about 30 minutes with the family and then visited other young patients as well as hospital staff, the Vatican press office said.
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Pope visits teen who fell ill during Jubilee of Youth, prays with family (By Carol Glatz, OSV News)
