The Pope Francis laid his hands on a young seminarian suffering from cancer and asked those around him to also pray with him. The events took place on May 11th at the end of the general audience.
It is known that on Wednesdays the Pope usually holds a public general audience in St. Peter’s Square and, when it is very cold or very hot, in the Aula Paolo VI. The Pope enters the Square in the papamobile and begins to tour the avenues: in this way, many people can see him more closely.
After the tour, the Pope delivers the weekly catechesis and then gives some greetings to pilgrims. Subsequently, he greets groups of people: newlyweds, the sick, priests, etc. On Wednesday, May 11th, there was a large group of seminarians from the Legionaries of Christ. They were in the square accompanying the new priests of the same religious family who had been ordained a few days earlier.
One of those present was Venezuelan Alejandro Rondón, LC, who is battling cancer. The seminarian, who lives in Rome and studies philosophy at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, wanted to share his experience with ZENIT: “At first, we passed in groups because there were many of us. Another Legionary who already knew about my cancer diagnosis, and who was the first to greet the Pope, told the Holy Father about my situation, that I was going through a difficult time. The Pope asked who I was. When he found out it was me, he told me to kneel before him.”
Brother Alejandro recounts that the Pope said to him: “Kneel down, and we will all pray for you. Then he laid his hands on me and we prayed for a minute.” It was a moment of prayer that made Brother Alejandro enter into prayer, asking God for healing, that He would help me pass this time of chemotherapy in the best way. I asked the Lord to give me grace and strength.”
What happened next? The brother from Venezuela comments that “when the Pope finished praying, and all the other Legionaries as well, he greeted me.” And he adds: “I felt blessed, very grateful for that gesture which, after meditating on it, I realized the importance of what happened.”
Brother Alejandro stated that “I had no intention of greeting him, but things happened that way because that’s what God wanted. I am still meditating on it because it is a great and special grace that not many people have. I feel grateful and I see it as a gesture of humility on the part of the Pope. It was not about advice but simply an act of faith and putting it into prayer. The intercession of the Pope gives me strength, joy, and grace,” he concludes.
