A three-year-old girl, helped by her grandmother, decided to write a letter to Pope Francis. During her family’s pilgrimage to Rome, to observe the 50th anniversary of Pope John XXIII’s death, the Pontiff was doing his usual rounds greeting the faithful in Saint Peter’s Square, kissing and blessing many children, among whom was Alice Maria Rocca, the sender of the letter. While the Pope was kissing her tenderly on the head, she placed the letter in his hands directly.
Some days later, a happy surprise arrived for Alice’s family. In fact, in their mailbox was an envelope from the Secretariat of State of Vatican City and inside was a letter from Pope Francis, who blessed the little girl and all her dear ones.
“I never thought he would reply. We didn’t expect it, in fact, it was a surprise,” said the girl’s mother. She added, «Among the hundreds of thousands of letters that arrive for the Pope from all over the world every day, the Holy Father replied specifically to us.”
In her note to the Pope, Alice introduced herself and asked for a blessing for herself, her family, and the daycare she attends.
Answering her requests, the letter stated: “The Holy Father thanks you for your kind thoughts and invokes upon you the heavenly intercession of Blessed John XXIII, so that you can grow up happy and serene in friendship with Jesus and, while asking you to pray for him, imparts from his heart to you, to your parents and to your grandmother the Apostolic Blessing, gladly extending it to your dear ones, with a particular thought for your friends and teachers at the daycare.”
