Pope Francis greets young cancer patients who are on pilgrimage from Poland to Rome during a Jan. 10, 2025, audience at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media
Vatican City, Jan 10, 2025 / 12:35 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis told a group of children receiving treatment for cancer in Poland they are “witnesses of hope” to those around them.
During a Jan. 10 audience at the Vatican, the pope greeted cancer patients, ranging in age from young children to adolescents, who are on a pilgrimage from the city of Wrocław, in western Poland, to Rome.
“Thank you for coming, you are brave! And so you are witnesses of hope for us adults and for your peers,” Francis said. “I am happy that you were able to organize this pilgrimage of yours in this jubilee year focused on hope. It is a year in which God wants to grant us special graces.”
The children received by Pope Francis on Friday morning are receiving treatment at a pediatric oncology clinic, “Cape of Hope,” opened in Wrocław in 2015. It is part of the national Wrocław Medical University.
Pope Francis meets with young cancer patients who are on pilgrimage from Poland to Rome during a Jan. 10, 2025, audience at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media
The children were accompanied on their pilgrimage by their parents, nurses, doctors, a priest, and Honorary Consul of Luxembourg in Poland Krzysztof Bramorski.
“As I came to meet you, I felt a joy in my heart because we have the opportunity to give hope and love to each other,” the pontiff said in his remarks in the apostolic palace.
“You, dear children and young people, are signs of hope for me,” he continued. “Why? Because I am sure that Jesus is present in you. And where he is, there is hope that does not disappoint! Jesus took our sufferings upon himself, out of love, and then we too, through his love, can join him when we suffer.”
True friends share each others’ joy and pain, just as Jesus does, Francis said.
Another sign of Jesus’ friendship with the children is the love and presence of their parents and all who help take care of them, he added.
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Vatican City, Mar 20, 2021 / 10:15 am (CNA).- The Vatican announced Saturday it had appointed the former commander general of Italy’s financial police force as president of the foundation overseeing a scandal-ridden dermatological hospital in Rome.Save… […]
Pope Francis waves to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his Angelus reflection on Oct. 6, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media
Vatican City, Oct 6, 2024 / 10:43 am (CNA).
“Be open to the gift of life,” Pope Francis urged married couples in his Sunday Angelus address, in which the pope described a recent encounter with a father of eight children as “a great consolation.”
Speaking from the window of the Apostolic Palace on Oct. 6, Pope Francis asked couples to reflect on whether their married life is fully open to the gift of children.
“For spouses, it’s essential to be open to the gift of life, to the gift of children. They are the most beautiful fruit of love, the greatest blessing from God, a source of joy and hope for every home and all of society. Have children!” Pope Francis said.
“Dear brothers and sisters, love is demanding, yes, but it is beautiful, and the more we allow ourselves to be involved by it, the more we discover true happiness in it,” he added.
The pope recounted how a member of the Vatican’s Gendarmerie Corps brought his eight children to a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica that the pope presided over on Saturday. Pope Francis described seeing the family as “a great consolation.”
“It was beautiful to see them,” he said. “Please, be open to life, to what God may send you.”
Francis encouraged married Catholics to “ask themselves: How is my love? Is it faithful? Is it generous? Is it creative?”
“How are our families?” Pope Francis added. “Are they open to life, to the gift of children?”
The Catholic Church teaches that all forms of artificial birth control are illicit and forbidden to married couples. This teaching was formalized in 1968 by St. Paul VI, who in his encyclical Humanae Vitae declared that “any action … specifically intended to prevent procreation” was “absolutely excluded” as a lawful means of regulating the number of children in a Catholic marriage.
However, recent data from the federally administered National Survey of Family Growth shows large majorities of Catholics in the United States report using at least one form of artificial contraception — with over 90% having used condoms and more than 60% having used the hormonal birth control pill.
In his Angelus address, the pope offered a reflection on Sunday’s Gospel from the Gospel of Mark in which the Pharisees asked Jesus about whether the law permits divorce.
Pope Francis noted that the Lord’s reply to the Pharisees reminded them of “the demands of love.”
“He reminds them that woman and man were willed by the Creator as equal in dignity and complementary in diversity,” the pope said.
Francis emphasized that the mutual gift of married love is “destined to last not ‘as long as everything goes well’ but forever, accepting each other and living united as ‘one flesh.’”
“Of course, this is not easy,” the pope added. “This requires fidelity, even in difficulties, it requires respect, honesty, simplicity. It requires being open to confrontation … when it is necessary, but also to be always ready to forgive and to be reconciled to the other.”
At the end of his Gospel reflection, Pope Francis asked the Virgin Mary to intercede for Christian spouses, noting the upcoming feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.
An appeal for peace in the Holy Land
Pope Francis noted that he will soon go to the Basilica of St. Mary Major to pray the rosary for peace on the vigil of the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel.
“Tomorrow marks one year since the terror attack on the population in Israel, to whom I once again express my closeness. Let us not forget that there are still many hostages in Gaza. I ask for them to be released immediately,” Pope Francis said.
“Since that day, the Middle East has been plunged into a condition marked by increasing suffering, with destructive military actions continuing to strike the Palestinian people. The people are suffering very much in Gaza and in other territories. Most of them are innocent civilians, all of them are people who must receive all necessary humanitarian aid. I call for an immediate cease-fire on all fronts, including Lebanon. Let us pray for the Lebanese, especially for those who live in the south, who are forced to leave their villages,” he added.
Appealing to the international community to stop “the spiral of revenge” and to prevent attacks “like the one recently carried out by Iran,” Pope Francis underlined the right of all nationals to exist in peace and security.
“Let us unite with the power of good against the diabolical plots of war,” the pope said.
Pilgrims gather in St. Peter’s Square for Pope Francis’ Angelus reflection on Oct. 6, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media
21 new cardinals announced
At the end of his Angelus address, Pope Francis surprised the crowd by announcing that he plans to create 21 new cardinals, including the archbishops of Tehran, Tokyo, and Toronto, in a consistory on Dec. 8.
The pope noted that the cardinals-elect reflect “the universality of the Church that continues to announce God’s merciful love to all people.”
“Let us pray for the new cardinals, that in confirming their commitment to Christ, the merciful and faithful high priest, they may assist me in my ministry as the bishop of Rome for the good of the holy people of God.”
Vatican City, Apr 30, 2017 / 05:13 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In his Regina Coeli address on Sunday, Pope Francis called attention to the violence in Venezuela, offering up his prayers for the victims and appealing to the government and citizens to seek solu… […]
Leave a Reply