[News] After leaving the hospital, Pope Francis consoled a couple who lost their daughter

[Draeno]

 

Pope Francis, 86, was discharged this Saturday from the Agostino Gemelli Roman hospital where he was hospitalized for three days due to bronchitis, and returned to the Vatican to prepare for the Holy Week celebrations. Leaving the premises, the Supreme Pontiff had a moving encounter with a couple whose daughter died the night before in hospital. The Pope consoled them and prayed for the minor's rest, according to what the Vatican later commented.

“Leaving the Polyclinic, Pope Francis got out of the car and greeted the people present. He hugged a couple of parents who lost their daughter last night, stopping to pray with them," reported the Holy See Press Office.

The CNN correspondent in the Vatican, Deliah Gallagher, recorded the moment in which the Pope hugs and comforts the mother, asks her the name of the minor and prays with the couple before giving her the blessing. The gesture was appreciated by the woman and her partner.

Pope Francis also greeted a crowd and baptized a baby who was in one of the cribs at the hospital where he was being treated. According to the Vatican, the Pontiff told the mother of Michelangelo, as the minor was called, to say when he went to the parish that "the Pope baptized him."

The health of Pope Francis is concerned
The hospitalization of Pope Francis this week raised questions about the future of his papacy, and fueled rumors and criticism from his enemies, who yearn for a new leader for the Catholic Church.

The most conservative sectors have openly challenged the Argentine pontiff, whom they accuse of undermining doctrinal teachings with his openings, by calling for a more tolerant church.

His fragile health has "gave oxygen" to those who seek to present him as a weak person and hope that he will follow the example of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who resigned in 2013 when he realized that his physical and mental strength was not enough, said Robert Mickens, director from the religious daily La Croix International, consulted by AFP.

Francisco, 86, who has a number of physical problems and uses a wheelchair, has been highly ambivalent on the issue of his resignation.

He has said on several occasions that he would resign if he did not feel up to the job, although he insisted in February that the issue was not on his agenda.

The three nights he spent this week in Rome's Gemelli hospital with bronchitis caused "feverish turmoil" among both his allies and critics, says Massimo Franco, an expert on Vatican affairs for the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.

"Speculations about the future of the pontificate are now less theoretical," Franco wrote.

 

https://www.elespectador.com/mundo/europa/tras-salir-del-hospital-el-papa-francisco-consolo-a-una-pareja-que-perdio-a-su-hija-noticias-hoy/