Pope Francis, the hug to the parents of little Angelica who died in the night: He met her

The desperate weeping of a woman this morning interrupted the atmosphere of greetings and applause for Pope Francis, who was discharged shortly after 10.30 from the Gemelli hospital after a three-day hospitalization for infectious bronchitis. It was the weeping of a woman who last night he lost his daughter, Angelicaand who, together with her husband, was among the crowd of people who waited for Bergoglio outside the hospital.

As he left the Polyclinic, Pope Francis got out of the car with the help of a stick and greeted the people present. Among the many, the couple of parents who lost their daughter in the night: the Pontiff stopped to talk and pray with them and held the woman close to him, kissing her. “Holy Father, I can’t take it anymore. Pray for us…”, said little Angelica’s mother to the Pope.

“You met her because in 2019 you came to Casal Bertone, held her in your arms”, said the little girl’s father with a voice broken by tears to Bergoglio, who then prayed with them. “Let us pray for Angelica”, the Pope whispered, holding their hands. He then gave them his blessing before letting them go.

Leaving the hospital, the Pope also stopped to talk to the many journalists present, joking with them about his health and adding, however, that he was not afraid. He then confirmed that he won’t skip his Holy Week commitments: already tomorrow, in fact, Bergoglio will celebrate Palm Sunday.

In the afternoon of Holy Thursday then, after celebrating the Chrism Mass, Pope Francis will go to the juvenile prison of Casal del Marmo for the Mass in Coena Domini and the rite of foot washing. This morning, after leaving Gemelli, he went to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore and stopped in front of the icon of Mary, Salus Populi Romani, entrusting the children he met yesterday in the hospital to her in prayer.