'Faith moves mountains' - Child cancer patients write to Pope Leo
By Deborah Castellano Lubov and Benedetta Capelli
As Pope Leo XIV recovers at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital following his successful lung surgery on Tuesday, children in the hospital’s oncology ward sent him letters and drawings.
The Holy See Press Office released images of their messages and artwork on Friday, in which they offer the Holy Father words of encouragement and sharing their own experiences of illness and hope.
‘My mom and I pray for you every evening’
Angelo, seven, had been hospitalized for 36 days.
In his letter, he explained that he came from Taurisano, in the province of Lecce, and, like the Pope, was staying on the hospital’s tenth floor, after having undergone his own operation, head surgery.
“My mom and I pray for you every evening,” he wrote. “I wish you a speedy recovery.”
He also sent the Pope a drawing of a tree whose leaves were beginning to fall, a meadow, and many birds flying through the sky beneath a large, bright sun.
‘Faith moves mountains’
Eleonora, who came from an Italian-Chilean family, had been receiving treatment in the Neurosurgery and Oncology Department of the children’s hospital.
Her mother, Maria Graziela, explained in their family's letter written in Spanish that the little girl was now healthy and reflected on their experience of faith.
“Faith moves mountains,” she wrote.
“God has heard our prayers,” she added, thanks to the intercession of Saint Francis of Assisi, Our Lady of Fatima, and the Archangel Raphael.
In the letter, she also entrusted the Bishop of Rome to their care, asking God and the Blessed Virgin Mary, together with the guardian angels, to protect him.
“Pope Leo, our prayers are for you,” they reassured, praying, “May God, the Most Holy Virgin, and the guardian angels always protect you.”
‘Better days will come. We are united in prayer’
Giorgia, 18, wrote to the Holy Father in English, explaining how her world had been turned upside down and how she had had to put her dreams on hold to focus on her health.
Yet, through this experience, she had discovered gratitude for being cared for and having the opportunity to recover.
She reflected on how illness had changed her, both for better and for worse, and how things she had once taken for granted had acquired a new value.
“I believe what they say is true, that you can find something good in everything,” she wrote.
She told Pope Leo that, “When I heard on the news about you and your situation, I felt it a thousand times harder, because in some ways we are going through the same thing, and it made me feel closer to you.”
Finally, Giorgia said she was praying to God that they might both recover and asked the Pope to pray with her.
“Better days will come for the both of us. I'm sure of that,” she wrote. “We are united in prayer for us and for those facing the same situation."
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