Vatican City, Mar 19, 2022 / 11:30 am
Pope Francis made a surprise visit on Saturday to Ukrainian refugee children being treated in the Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital in Rome.
The children suffering from cancer, neurological diseases, and other illnesses were brought to Italy for medical treatment during the first days of the war in Ukraine.
Some of the hospitalized children suffer from serious blast wounds from the war, according to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni.
Pope Francis stopped in the hospital rooms to visit all of the children staying in the ward on the afternoon of March 19, the Solemnity of St. Joseph, before returning to the Vatican.