May 6, 2025
— Pope Francis
As we mourn the passing of Pope Francis on Easter Monday at 88, we would like to share some of his final thoughts on illness and suffering, which he delivered shortly before his death. After recovering from bilateral pneumonia, which had hospitalized him for 40 days, he appeared in St. Peter’s Square for the Jubilee of the Sick.
In his homily, which was read by Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the pope wrote that “the sickbed can become a ‘holy place’ of salvation and redemption, both for the sick and for those who care for them.”“I have much in common with you at this time of my life, dear brothers and sisters who are sick: the experience of illness, of weakness, of having to depend on others in so many things, and of needing their support.
“This is not always easy, but it is a school in which we learn each day to love and to let ourselves be loved, without being demanding or pushing back, without regrets and without despair, but rather with gratitude to God and to our brothers and sisters for the kindness we receive, looking toward the future with acceptance and trust….
“Illness is certainly one of the harshest and most difficult of life’s trials, when we experience in our own flesh our common human frailty. It can make us feel like the people in exile, or like the woman in the Gospel: deprived of hope for the future.
“Yet that is not the case. Even in these times, God does not leave us alone, and if we surrender our lives to him, precisely when our strength fails, we will be able to experience the consolation of his presence. By becoming man, he wanted to share our weakness in everything….
“Dear doctors, nurses, and health care workers, in caring for your patients, especially the most vulnerable among them, the Lord constantly affords you an opportunity to renew your lives through gratitude, mercy, and hope.”
Rest in peace, Pope Francis.
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