By Courtney Mares, OSV News
ROME OSV News – Pope Leo XIV has called on people around the world to pray for children living with incurable diseases in a video message released by the Vatican Feb. 5.
The four-minute video, published by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network for the Pope’s February prayer intention, shows Pope Leo kneeling in prayer inside the Church of San Pellegrino in Vatican City while looking at drawings made by children being treated at Rome’s Bambino Gesù Hospital for Children.
“Lord Jesus, who welcomed the little ones in your arms and blessed them tenderly, today we bring before you the children living with incurable illnesses,” the Pope prayed.
“Sustain their families in hope, in the midst of weariness and uncertainty, and make of them witnesses of a faith that grows stronger through trial,” he added.
At the start of each month, the Pope releases a video in which he offers a prayer for a specific intention, inviting people to join him in praying it regularly. February’s intention is for children living with incurable illnesses. On Feb. 11, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, the Church will celebrate the World Day of the Sick.
“Lord, teach us to recognize your face in every suffering child,” Pope Leo prayed. “May their vulnerability awaken our compassion, and move us to care, accompany, and love with concrete gestures of solidarity.”
Many incurable diseases affecting children are rare genetic or chronic conditions that require lifelong treatment and monitoring. These include certain pediatric cancers, severe neurological disorders, heart defects and rare metabolic diseases. While medical advances have improved survival rates and quality of life for some children, many conditions remain without a cure and can involve ongoing pain, disability or progressive decline. Among the more than 6,000 identified rare diseases, 70% start in childhood.
According to UNICEF, more than 2.1 billion children and adolescents under the age of 20 worldwide are affected by chronic illnesses or long-term health conditions, including cancer, Type 1 diabetes, and heart and respiratory diseases. Each year, around 1 million children under 20 die from these illnesses, many of which could be treated or effectively prevented with adequate access to health care.
In his prayer, Pope Leo asked that sick children “may never lack proper medical care, human and compassionate attention, and the support of a community that accompanies them with love.”
He also asked the Lord to “bless the hands of doctors, nurses, and caregivers, so that their work may always be an expression of active compassion.”
“May your Spirit enlighten them in every difficult decision, and grant them patience and tenderness to serve with dignity,” he said.
Courtney Mares is Vatican editor for OSV News. Follow her on X @catholicourtney
NOTES: The full text of Pope Leo XIV’s prayer for children with incurable diseases can be found below:
“Lord Jesus,
who welcomed the little ones in your arms and blessed them tenderly,
today we bring before you the children living with incurable illnesses.
Their fragile bodies are a sign of your presence,
and their smiles, even in the midst of pain, are a testimony of your Kingdom. We ask you, Lord, that they may never lack proper medical care,
human and compassionate attention,
and the support of a community that accompanies them with love.
Sustain their families in hope,
in the midst of weariness and uncertainty,
and make of them witnesses of a faith that grows stronger through trial.
Bless the hands of doctors, nurses, and caregivers,
so that their work may always be an expression of active compassion.
May your Spirit enlighten them in every difficult decision,
and grant them patience and tenderness to serve with dignity.
Lord, teach us to recognize your face in every suffering child.
May their vulnerability awaken our compassion,
and move us to care, accompany, and love
with concrete gestures of solidarity.
Make of us a Church that,
animated by the feelings of your Heart
and moved by prayer and service,
knows how to uphold fragility,
and in the midst of suffering, becomes a source of comfort,
a seed of hope, and a proclamation of new life.
Amen.”
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