(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has made two more of his impromptu visits to hospitals and social service centres as part of his regular Friday initiatives during this Year of Mercy.
The Pope began by making a surprise visit to the Accident and Emergency department and to the Neonatal unit of Rome’s San Giovanni hospital.
After putting on a mask and completing the other health and safety procedures, the Pope stopped beside the incubators of twelve new born babies, five of whom are suffering from severe complications, including one set of twins. The Holy Father offered words of comfort and support to all of the parents, before going on to meet with staff and families at the nursery on the floor above.
Later in the afternoon the Pope visited some thirty terminally ill patients at the Villa Speranza Hospice, located in the north of Rome as part of the Gemelli University Hospital Foundation.
A note from the Holy See press office explained that through these two ‘Mercy Friday’ encounters, Pope Francis wished to “send a strong signal about the importance of life from its first moment until its natural end”. Welcoming life and guaranteeing its dignity at all times, the statement said, is a teaching that the Pope regularly reiterates. Through these two visits, it concluded, he has given a concrete and tangible sign of the importance of caring for the weakest and most vulnerable in order to show mercy in our lives.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a telegramme to the Italian Senate expressing his condolences for the death of former Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.
Senator Ciampi served as the Prime Minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994 and as President of the Italian Republic from 1999 to 2006. He passed away on Friday at the age of 95 in a clinic in Rome.
In the telegramme, the Holy Father extended his “deeply felt condolences” to Mr. Ciampi’s wife and children.
He also recalled the “sincere friendship which bound this illustrious man of the institutions to Pope St. John Paul II”.
The Holy Father closed the telegramme by extending his Apostolic Blessing.
Below, please find the original telegramme in Italian:
GENTILE SIGNORA FRANCA PILLA CIAMPI
C/O SENATO DELLA REPUBBLICA – PALAZZO GIUSTINIANI
VIA DELLA DOGANA VECCHIA 29 00186 ROMA
DESIDERO PORGERE LE MIE PIU’ SENTITE CONDOGLIANZE A LEI, AI FIGLI E A TUTTI I FAMILIARI IN QUESTO MOMENTO DI DOLORE PER LA MORTE DEL SENATORE CARLO AZEGLIO CIAMPI, PRESIDENTE EMERITO DELLA REPUBBLICA ITALIANA, CHE RICOPRI’ LE PUBBLICHE RESPONSABILITA’ CON SIGNORILE DISCREZIONE E FORTE SENSO DELLO STATO. NEL RICORDARE LA SINCERA AMICIZIA CHE LEGAVA QUESTO ILLUSTRE UOMO DELLE ISTITUZIONI A SAN GIOVANNI PAOLO SECONDO, ELEVO FERVIDE PREGHIERE DI SUFFRAGIO INVOCANDO DAL SIGNORE PER LA SUA ANIMA LA PACE ETERNA. CON TALI SENTIMENTI INVIO A LEI E AI CONGIUNTI LA BENEDIZIONE APOSTOLICA
FRANCISCUS PP
(from Vatican Radio)…