VATICAN CITY, 6 April 2025 – Pope Francis made an unexpected appearance in St Peter’s Square at the end of the Mass for the Jubilee of the Sick and the World of Healthcare.
As he arrived in a wheelchair, the Pope was welcomed by the faithful gathered on the Vatican steps. He greeted the crowd warmly, saying, “Happy Sunday to everyone,” and then repeated, “Happy Sunday to everyone. Thank you very much.”
Monsignor Rino Fisichella celebrated the Mass. The Pope did not celebrate the liturgy but shared a message and delivered the prepared Angelus reflection, offering support to those who suffer and those who care for them.
“Dearly beloved, as during my hospitalisation, even now in my convalescence I feel the ‘finger of God’ and experience his caring caress. On the day of the Jubilee of the sick and of the world of healthcare, I ask the Lord that this touch of his love may reach those who suffer and encourage those who take care of them,” said Pope Francis.
“And I pray for doctors, nurses and healthcare workers, who are not always helped to work in adequate conditions and, at times, are even victims of aggression. Their mission is not easy and must be supported and respected. I hope that the necessary resources will be invested in care and research, so that healthcare systems are inclusive and attentive to the most fragile and the poorest.”
Homily for the Jubilee of the Sick and of the World of Healthcare
In his homily, read by Monsignor Fisichella, the Pope reflected deeply on the theme of illness.
“Illness is certainly one of the most difficult and hardest trials of life, in which we experience first-hand how fragile we are. Illness can make us feel like the people in exile, or like the woman in the Gospel: without hope for the future. But this is not the case. Even in these moments, God does not leave us alone and, if we abandon ourselves to Him, precisely where our strength fails, we can experience the consolation of His presence.”
Compassion, closeness and tenderness
“With these dramatic and moving stories, the liturgy today invites us to renew, on the Lenten journey, our trust in God, who is always present near us to save us. There is no exile, nor violence, nor sin, nor any other reality of life that can prevent him from standing at our door and knocking, ready to enter as soon as we allow him (see Rev 3:20). Indeed, especially when trials become more difficult, his grace and his love hold us even tighter to lift us up. He himself, made man, wanted to share in all our weakness (see Phil 2:6-8) and knows well what suffering is (see Is 53:3). Therefore we can speak to him and entrust our pain, certain of finding compassion, closeness and tenderness.”
“But not only that. In his trusting love, in fact, he involves us so that we can become, for one another, ‘angels’, messengers of his presence, to the point that often, both for those who suffer and for those who assist, the bed of a sick person can be transformed into a ‘holy place’ of salvation and redemption.”
“Let us not relegate those who are fragile far from our lives, as unfortunately a certain type of mentality sometimes does today; let us not ostracise pain from our environments. Let us instead make it an opportunity to grow together, to cultivate hope thanks to the love that God first poured into our hearts (see Rom 5:5) and which, beyond everything, is what remains forever (see 1 Cor 13:8-10.13),” the Pope said.
Society that does not accept those who suffer is inhuman
He also referred to the late Pope Benedict XVI: “Benedict XVI – who gave us a beautiful testimony of serenity during his illness – wrote that ‘the measure of humanity is essentially determined in the relationship with suffering’ and that ‘a society that is unable to accept those who suffer […] is a cruel and inhuman society’ (Encyclical Letter Spe salvi, 38).”
“Facing suffering together makes us more human and sharing pain is an important stage in every journey of holiness,” Pope Francis explained. He addressed those who are ill directly: “Dearest sick brothers and sisters, at this moment in my life I share a lot: the experience of illness, of feeling weak, of depending on others for many things, of needing support. It is not always easy, but it is a school in which we learn every day to love and to let ourselves be loved, without demanding and without rejecting, without regretting and without despairing, grateful to God and to our brothers and sisters for the good we receive, abandoned and confident for what is yet to come.”
“The hospital room and the bed of infirmity can be places where we can hear the voice of the Lord who also says to us: ‘Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?’ (Is 43:19). And thus renew and strengthen faith,” the Pope continued.
Support for healthcare professionals
He also offered a heartfelt message to doctors and healthcare professionals: “Dear doctors, nurses and members of the healthcare personnel, as you take care of your patients, especially the most fragile, the Lord offers you the opportunity to continually renew your life, nourishing it with gratitude, mercy and hope (cf. Bull Spes non confundit, 11).”
“He calls you to illuminate it with the humble awareness that nothing can be taken for granted and that everything is a gift from God; to nourish it with that humanity that is experienced when, having let go of appearances, what matters remains: the small and large gestures of love. Allow the presence of the sick to enter your existence as a gift, to heal your heart, purifying it from everything that is not charity and warming it with the burning and sweet fire of compassion.”
