By Hannah Brockhaus
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.
