The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, has said Pope Francis has accepted an invitation to visit the patients and staff of the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic, the hospital in Rome where St. John Paul II was hospitalized during his pontificate.
The date for the visit to the hospital has yet to be announced.
Cardinal Parolin made the announcement in a tribute to the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, Italy, on the occasion of the 90th annual University Day which this year has the theme: with the young protagonists of the future.
In a letter to Cardinal Angelo Scola of Milan, Cardinal Parolin said that the university combines “scientific rigor and fidelity to the teaching of the Church” and praised its commitment to youth.
He said that this year’s theme “expresses well the closeness of the Athenaeum to the world of youth, and its commitment to offering students the necessary tools for answering to their vocation and to the demands of a qualifed professional formation”.
The cardinal also encouraged the university to continue to be a living and effective witness to the Church’s commitment towards the new generations”, and urged its members to “collaborate for the growth and strengthening” of this university.
The Pope entrusted the Athenaeum to the celestial protection of the Mother of God “Sedes Sapientiae”, and asked for prayers for him and for his service to the Church.
