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Pedro Pablo and Carmen Gloria Gonzálvez, a couple from Murcia, were praying for theirson, who was hospitalized at Bambino Gesù Hospital for a serious case of lymphoma, when they saw the Pope unexpectedly arrive.
"It was a sign that God has not abandoned me," says the mother. The father, meanwhile, says he is moved by the Pontiff's words: "We are made for heaven." His brother and sister were also moved by the Pontiff's gesture, which strengthened the entire family: "He truly understood our pain."
They were all praying in the intensive care unit—Pedro Pablo, Carmen Gloria, Pedro Pablo Jr., and Adela—for their Ignacio, who appears to be in his final hours. Pope Leo XIV, suddenly arrived, showing up unannounced at Bambino Gesù to offer his personal comfort to the fifteen-year-old Spanish boy, for whom he had asked everyone present at Tor Vergata for prayers on the evening of the Youth Jubilee vigil.
Ignacio is sedated; he hasn't seen or heard anything. He has lymphoma attacking his respiratory tract. His parents, his 24-year-old brother, and his 17-year-old sister have been awake for days, ever since the boy, who came with his Neocatechumenal Way community from Murcia, Spain, to Rome for the Jubilee event. He experienced an emergency and collapse which required urgent admission to the pediatric hospital.
His family stay awake day and night praying, hoping, crying out to God to perform "a miracle." And they're also moved by the outpouring of solidarity and support they've received following Pope Leo's appeal.
The pope spent about half an hour with the family, before visiting some patients in the oncology ward and meeting individually with other young patients and the hospital staff. Together with the Gonzálvezes, the Pontiff prayed the Hail Mary and the Our Father , gave each of them his blessing, and spoke about the Gospel, eternal life, and God's will.
“He helped us a lot, he gave us a word. It was incredible,” the emotional father recounts on the phone with Vatican media, while waiting for his next turn to be with his son. Leo XIV, Pedro Pablo explains, “told us that the important thing is to do God's will, that our true place is eternal life in heaven. This comforted us, because we are people who try to live our faith and know it is the truth. And in times when one is suffering so deeply, hearing the Pope come and give you a word like that is… the best thing that could have happened to us.”
Carmen Gloria, the mother explained that the pope "...told me that if Ignatius had come all the way to Rome, he could come all the way to the hospital to see him. They were simple words, but full of affection."
"The Pope," the woman emphasizes, "told us that this is a mystery and that despite many things we don't understand, we know that God is there and wants the best for everyone. As a mother, I saw Jesus Christ come to me and tell me 'You are not alone.' That's what the Pope's presence in the hospital meant to me: confirmation that God has not abandoned us."
Numerous messages and expressions of support have reached the Gonzálvezes in recent hours: "Our story is moving many hearts, many young people are praying for this child," the mother explains. "It is the work of the Holy Spirit. We are nothing, a family like so many others... And seeing so many people praying, so many showing interest, and even the Pope himself coming, is a great consolation. We know that God is with us."
Pedro Pablo, the brother, said, “We don't know how it will end...but Pope León told us that it helps to accept God's will... He listened to us at every moment, he was truly concerned, he gave me the feeling of someone who truly understood the situation and the pain we are experiencing. Great empathy.”
The pope spent about half an hour with the family, before visiting some patients in the oncology ward and meeting individually with other young patients and the hospital staff. Together with the Gonzálvezes, the Pontiff prayed the Hail Mary and the Our Father , gave each of them his blessing, and spoke about the Gospel, eternal life, and God's will.
“He helped us a lot, he gave us a word. It was incredible,” the emotional father recounts on the phone with Vatican media, while waiting for his next turn to be with his son. Leo XIV, Pedro Pablo explains, “told us that the important thing is to do God's will, that our true place is eternal life in heaven. This comforted us, because we are people who try to live our faith and know it is the truth. And in times when one is suffering so deeply, hearing the Pope come and give you a word like that is… the best thing that could have happened to us.”
Carmen Gloria, the mother explained that the pope "...told me that if Ignatius had come all the way to Rome, he could come all the way to the hospital to see him. They were simple words, but full of affection."
"The Pope," the woman emphasizes, "told us that this is a mystery and that despite many things we don't understand, we know that God is there and wants the best for everyone. As a mother, I saw Jesus Christ come to me and tell me 'You are not alone.' That's what the Pope's presence in the hospital meant to me: confirmation that God has not abandoned us."
Numerous messages and expressions of support have reached the Gonzálvezes in recent hours: "Our story is moving many hearts, many young people are praying for this child," the mother explains. "It is the work of the Holy Spirit. We are nothing, a family like so many others... And seeing so many people praying, so many showing interest, and even the Pope himself coming, is a great consolation. We know that God is with us."
Pedro Pablo, the brother, said, “We don't know how it will end...but Pope León told us that it helps to accept God's will... He listened to us at every moment, he was truly concerned, he gave me the feeling of someone who truly understood the situation and the pain we are experiencing. Great empathy.”
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