Pope St John XXIII

Pope St John XXIII visiting the children's hospital

The beloved Pope St John XXIII was the first Pope to start visits to hospitals and prisons. When he visited the children’s hospital, all the sick children were jumping on their beds with joy to see the pontiff among them. One child remained quietly in his bed, and when the Pope reached out to him, the child asked him if he was really the Pope. After the ‘Yes’ answer from Good Pope John, the child said: “I am very happy, but I cannot see you, because I am blind.” The Pope then moved closer to the boy and said to him: “Carmine, we are all lacking in our eyesight – we pray that the Lord gives us foresight in our hearts so that we can recognize that we are all brothers and sisters.” 

The next day, the Pope went to Regina Coeli prison and told the prisoners: “You could not come to me – so I came to you. Try to rebuild your lives by eliminating one word from your lives: despair. And prepare your lives to do good for the rest of your lives, because you are all children of God.” One of the prisoners knelt down before him and told him “I am delinquent. Is there any hope for me?” Pope John told him:”There is hope for everyone. There is hope for you too. Don’t worry!”