January 11, 2024 / 11:12 AM
It is probably not the first time that readers contemplate the image that precedes these lines. It is about the tender meeting between Vinicio Riva and Pope Francis in 2013, a hug that went around the world and that represents one of the most emotional and impactful moments of Francis’ pontificate.
The protagonist of this image captured after the General Audience on November 6 of the year in which Pope Francis was elected successor of Peter was Vinicio Riva, the Italian who suffered from a disease called neurofibromatosis since he was 15 years old and who died in the hospital in Vicenza (Italy) on January 10 at age 58.
Greeting pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square, in an intense gesture of love for people suffering from illnesses, Pope Francis stopped for several minutes to welcome Vinicius in his arms. Moments later, he took him by the face and gave him his blessing.