Pope Francis tells pediatric cancer patients they are ‘witnesses of hope’

Vatican City, Jan 10, 2025 / 12:35 pm

Pope Francis told a group of children receiving treatment for cancer in Poland they are “witnesses of hope” to those around them.

During a Jan. 10 audience at the Vatican, the pope greeted cancer patients, ranging in age from young children to adolescents, who are on a pilgrimage from the city of Wrocław, in western Poland, to Rome.

“Thank you for coming, you are brave! And so you are witnesses of hope for us adults and for your peers,” Francis said. “I am happy that you were 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.”

The children received by Pope Francis on Friday morning are receiving treatment at a pediatric oncology clinic, “Cape of Hope,” opened in Wrocław in 2015. It is part of the national Wrocław Medical University.

The children were accompanied on their pilgrimage by their parents, nurses, doctors, a priest, and Honorary Consul of Luxembourg in Poland Krzysztof Bramorski.

“As I came to meet you, I felt a joy in my heart because we have the opportunity to give hope and love to each other,” the pontiff said in his remarks in the apostolic palace.

“You, dear children and young people, are signs of hope for me,” he continued. “Why? Because I am sure that Jesus is present in you. And where he is, there is hope that does not disappoint! Jesus took our sufferings upon himself, out of love, and then we too, through his love, can join him when we suffer.”

True friends share each others’ joy and pain, just as Jesus does, Francis said.

Another sign of Jesus’ friendship with the children is the love and presence of their parents and all who help take care of them, he added.