Pope Francis Tells Sick Children Jesus is Their Friend and Asks Them to Pray for Children who Cannot Access Healthcare

Meeting with children from an Oncology and Pediatric Hematology Clinic in Poland, Pope Francis encourages them to pray for those who cannot receive medical care.
FULL TEXT GREETING OF THE HOLY FATHER, POPE FRANCIS
TO CHILDREN BEING TREATED AT THE PEDIATRIC ONCOLOGY CLINIC
OF WROCŁAW (POLAND)
Friday, 10 January 2025
_________________________________
Mr. Consul,
Madam Professor,
Dear healthcare workers,
Dear Father, dear parents, dearest children!

I welcome you, and I am happy you have been 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.

While I was coming to meet you, I felt a joy in my heart because we have the opportunity to give each other hope and love. And there is also another reason: you, dear children and young people, are signs of hope for me. And why? Because I am sure that Jesus is present in you. And wherever He is, there is hope that does not disappoint! Jesus took upon Himself our sufferings, out of love, and so we too, through His love, can join with Him when we are suffering.

And this is proof of friendship. You know: when you are truly friends, the joy of the other person is my joy too, and the pain of the other is also my pain. Once, Jesus said to His disciples: “I know longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends” (Jn 15:15). You too are friends, you are His friends, and can share your joys and sufferings with Him.

Another proof of Jesus’ friendship towards us is the love and constant presence of your parents, it is the gentle and tender smile of the doctors, nurses and physiotherapists who care for you and work to improve your health, so that you do not lose your dreams and your hopes.

I too call you friends: you are friends! And I would like to ask you to help me to serve the Church. And how? Offering, every now and then, your prayers and your sufferings for the Pope’s intentions. Thank you for this!

And then I invite you to pray together with me for those children – there are many of them, unfortunately – who do not have the chance to be treated: they are sick, or injured, and there are no medicines, there is no hospital, there are neither doctors nor nurses. Let us remember them, let us be close to them!

Dear children, thank you for coming, you are brave! And in this way, you are witnesses of hope for us adults and for your peers.

And thank you to those who have accompanied you: the Ordinary Consul of Luxembourg in Poland, Madam Professor, the organizers of this pilgrimage, the doctors, the nurses, the priest, and above all you, dear parents, pilgrims of hope together with your children.

I entrust you to the Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, our Mother. I bless you all and I keep you in my prayers. And you too, please, do not forget to pray for me. Thank you.

______________________________________

Holy See Press Office Bulletin, 10 January 2025