FABRIC OF SAINT PETER IN THE VATICAN

PRESS RELEASE

Editorial: in “Piazza San Pietro”, Pope Francis responds to the pain of a mother: “There are no words to give a name to parents who lose a child”

The Holy Father quotes Saint John Paul II: “There is no evil from which God does not draw forth some greater good”

VATICAN, 27 FEB – “There are not even the words to give a name to a mother or a father who lose a child. The wife who loses her husband is a widow. The husband who loses his wife is a widower. The son who loses a parent is an orphan. But for a parent who loses a child, there is no word”, writes Pope Francis in the pages of “Piazza San Pietro”, the monthly edited by Father Enzo Fortunato which explores themes of faith, spirituality and daily life, responding – as he does every month – to one of the letters addressed to him. It is from a women who has suffered the greatest pain: seeing her own son die.

The tragedy of Cinzia, a Roman mother who lost her 21-year-old son in a road accident, touched the Holy Father. “Jesus, who weeps with us, will sow in our heart all the answers we are looking for”, is the Pope’s message, written during the days just prior to his hospitalization. Quoting Saint John Paul II, he writes, “There is no evil from which God does not draw forth some greater good”.

From the pages of Piazza San Pietro, Cardinal Charles Bo, archbishop of Yangon, recounts the difficult situation in Myanmar, the efforts of the Church and the Pontiff’s continuous appeals for peace in a country wracked by conflict. “The healing encounter” is the title of the contribution from Sr. Simona Brambilla, Caritas missionary, prefect of the Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life, who narrates how the experience of God in prayer transforms us into brothers and sisters capable of compassion and acceptance. For the cultural section, on the occasion of the Jubilee of Artists, there is an interview with the artist Maurizio Cattelan: “Provocation is not an end, but a tool”.

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POPE FRANCIS' LETTER - full text

Dear Pope Francis,

I am Cinzia, the mother of Fabrizio, a boy just 21 years of age – good, generous and selfless – who on the night between 4 and 5 October 2019, went out to spend an evening with friends, but did not return home, because the car in which he was sitting, in the back seat, driven by a young man of his own age who had just obtained his driving license, overturned several times due to the driver’s disregard for the highway code, and Fabrizio got the worst of it, saving with his body the girl seated next to him but leaving the most atrocious pain for all our family. After the tragedy, my husband and I sank into darkness, felt hatred, anger, grief and lost our faith. Then, on 8 December 2019, thanks to Mary, I returned to the faith and started praying again; my husband, on the other hand, could not. We realised that we had to do something to get back on our feet and make sense of that misfortune. We became Red Cross volunteers. To help those who are suffering and in need of help, we founded a non-profit association, ‘Insieme per Fabrizio APS’ (Together for Fabrizio APS), with the aim of promoting a culture that fosters life and the values associated with it, in particular by working on prevention and road safety in schools and all places where people gather.

Pope Francis, thank you for your words on 31 October, addressed to parents who have lost a child; and it is for this reason I would like to ask you why the Lord did not save Fabrizio, giving us this terrible pain that is always present in our heart? And where is Fabrizio? Is he in Heaven? Has he become our guardian Angel? Holy Father, only you can answer these questions which assail me every day.

Thank you very much, and I pray for you every day.

Cinzia, from Rome

ANSWER FROM POPE FRANCIS

Dear Cinzia,

Your prayer arises from the most atrocious and unnatural pain: the loss of your son Fabrizio. I said recently, as you remember, that there are no words, not even those of comfort, despite our best intentions.

Even these words can end up exacerbating the wound. Know that I am with you, and I would like to be able to console you just as Jesus consoled the afflicted and encouraged hope.

There are not even the words to give a name to a mother or a father who lose a child. The wife who loses her husband is a widow. The husband who loses his wife is a widower. The son who loses a parent is an orphan. But for a parent who loses a child, there is no word.

The answer to your questions starts from a premise. Always ask for the intercession of Mary, who has helped you a great deal and will always be close to you and your husband Antonio. And I would like us to embrace the words of Don Tonino Bello’s prayer, “Virgin of waiting”: Saint Mary, woman of waiting, ease the pain of mothers for their children who, leaving home one day, never came back…

Waiting is always a sign of hope. Make us, then, ministers of waiting. And may the Lord who comes, Virgin of the Advent, surprise us, also by your maternal complicity, with the lamp in your hand.

We cannot have all the answers, faced with the mystery of innocent suffering. Even today Mary participates in and shares your pain as the Mother of humanity, Mother of all of us. A mother who is close to us, who remains silent and keeps every broken heart company.

Some words of Saint John Paul II also help me: “There is no evil from which God does not draw forth some greater good”. And this must make us hope, dear Cinzia and Antonio. In prayer, in the grace beyond measure that God gives us every day, in progress on the journey of faith, in the sacramental life, let us upon our hearts sincerely. Jesus, who weeps with us, will sow in our hearts all the answers we are seeking.

The encounter with Him is the Love that saves, the Love greater than any evil.

Francis