Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Pope Francis greets a patient during an unannounced visit Jan. 5 to children at the Palidoro Bambino Gesu Hospital, in Fiumicino, outside Rome. (CNS photo/L'Osservatore Romano)Pope Francis greets a patient during an unannounced visit Jan. 5 to children at the Palidoro Bambino Gesu Hospital, in Fiumicino, outside Rome. (CNS photo/L'Osservatore Romano)

On the eve of Epiphany, when most Italian children wake up to find gifts and candy, Pope Francis visited a pediatric hospital outside Rome.

The pope arrived at the Palidoro Bambino Gesu Hospital at about 3 p.m. on Jan. 5 and visited the various wards where about 120 children are receiving treatment, according to the Vatican press office.

The pope greeted the children and “exchanged some words of comfort with the parents who are caring for their children in their tiring and painful trials,” the statement said.

Visiting the hospital, Pope Francis was “continuing the experience of the Mercy Fridays,” visits he made to hospitals, orphanages and other care facilities during the 2015-16 Year of Mercy.

Pope Francis greets a patient during an unannounced visit Jan. 5 to children at the Palidoro Bambino Gesu Hospital, in Fiumicino, outside Rome. (CNS photo/L'Osservatore Romano)
Pope Francis greets a patient during an unannounced visit Jan. 5 to children at the Palidoro Bambino Gesu Hospital, in Fiumicino, outside Rome. (CNS photo/L'Osservatore Romano)

The Palidoro Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, a 120-bed facility, is one of the three branches of the main hospital in Rome, close to the Vatican.  The other hospitals are in St. Paul Outside the walls in Rome and at Santa Marinella, on the seaside, further up north beyond Palidoro.

The Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital was begun in 1869 by Duke Scipione Salviati and his wife, who were moved by the condition of children who were treated in general hospitals. Their gesture invited others to contribute and helped the growth of the hospital. In January 1924 the hospital was donated to the Holy See. Since then it has been popularly known as the Pope’s hospital.

Today the hospital is part of the network of the National Healthcare System in the city of Rome. It has become a significant point of reference for pediatrics at the national level and treats children not only from Rome and Italy, but also from neighboring European countries.

Several Popes have visited Bambino Gesù Hospital, with Pope St. John XXIII visiting the main center in 1958. He visited again at Christmas in 1962.

Blessed Pope Paul VI followed next with a visit in 1968, and ten years later started the Palidoro centre.

Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict have also visited the hospital. Pope Francis first visited Bambino Gesù Hospital in December 2013.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

The 12 women whose feet were washed by Pope Francis included women from Italy, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Ukraine, Russia, Peru, Venezuela and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
"We, the members of the Society of Jesus, continue to be lifted up in prayer, in lament, in protest at the death and destruction that continue to reign in Gaza and other territories in Israel/Palestine, spilling over into the surrounding countries of the Middle East."
The Society of JesusMarch 28, 2024
A child wounded in an I.D.F. bombardment is brought to Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on March 25. (AP Photo/Ismael abu dayyah)
While some children have been evacuated from conflict, more than 1.1 million children in Gaza and 3.7 million in Haiti have been left behind to face the rampaging adult world around them.
Kevin ClarkeMarch 28, 2024
Easter will not be postponed this year. It will not wait until the war is over. It is precisely now, in our darkest hour, that resurrection finds us.
Stephanie SaldañaMarch 28, 2024