Pope Francis has appeared in public for the first time since undergoing colon surgery, making an appeal for free universal healthcare from the balcony in Rome’s Gemelli hospital.
Appearing to be in good spirits, Francis addressed the crowd from the tenth floor of the hospital exactly seven days since he was admitted for a three-hour operation. During the midday Angelus prayer, the 84-year-old Pope was accompanied by children who are patients at the hospital and some staff. He told everyone that he was happy to be able to keep the regular Sunday appointment.
Francis said that, in the final judgment, Christians will be asked about what they did for the sick.
“In these days of being hospitalised,” the Pope said, “I have experienced once again how important good health care is, accessible to all, as it is in Italy and in other countries. Free health care, that assures good service, accessible to everyone. This precious benefit must not be lost. It needs to be kept.”
This was the first Sunday angelus that the Latin American Pope has led from the Gemelli hospital, with Francis following in the footsteps of John Paul II who did so on several occasions during his 27-year-pontificate. In the days after his operation, the Vatican has said the Pope’s recovery is proceeding normally.
Speaking off the cuff at the Gemelli, Francis said that sometimes in the Church a “healthcare institution, due to poor management, does not do well economically, and the first thought that comes to mind is to sell it.”
Francis said, however, that “the vocation, in the Church, is not to have money; it is to offer service, and service is always freely given. Do not forget this: to save free institutions.”
In 2018, several wealthy donors from the Papal Foundation sought to block a $25 million loan request from the Holy See to help the Istituto Dermopatico dell’Immacolata (IDI), hospital in Rome. The hospital is owned and managed by the Congregation of the Sons of the Immaculate Conception, but the Vatican has long been involved with the institute and has sought to help its work in treating dermatological conditions. For a long time the IDI was considered one of the best medical institutions in Italy.
After the 2008 global financial crash, the hospital declared bankruptcy and became embroiled in scandal when a former chief executive was accused of money laundering and fraud. The Vatican had been looking at ways of trying to prevent the collapse of the IDI to put its past behind it so turned to the United States’ based philanthropic foundation for help. But several members of the foundation, who must donate $1 million to join, felt that giving money to a scandal-plagued hospital would be throwing their donations into a black hole. The grant was eventually made.
Reflecting on the Gospel reading for 11 July, the Pope focused on a line from Mark 6:13 which explains that Jesus’ disciples “anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them”.
Francis said: “This ‘oil’ also makes us think of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, which gives comfort to spirit and body. But this ‘oil’ is also listening, the closeness, the care, the tenderness of those who take care of the sick person: it is like a caress that makes you feel better, soothes your pain and cheers you up. All of us, everyone, sooner or later, we all need this ‘anointing’ of closeness and tenderness, and we can all give it to someone else, with a visit, a phone call, a hand outstretched to someone who needs help.”
The Pope added that he would like to “express my appreciation and my encouragement to the doctors and all the healthcare workers and staff of this and of other hospitals. They work so hard.”
During his pontificate, Francis has often talked about the Church as a “field hospital” that cares for the sick, and heals wounds. His appearance from the balcony at a Rome hospital on Sunday, sought to show what that model of the church looks like.
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