Pope says he experienced God’s presence in the hospital

The Pope, who has been prescribed two months of rest at his residence, took up his pen on the occasion of the second synodal assembly of the Churches of Italy. This event, which brings together a thousand bishops, priests, and lay people in the Paul VI Hall of the Vatican, concludes a five-year journey conducted by all the dioceses of the Peninsula.

In his brief message published on Monday, the Argentinian pontiff meditated on Christian joy, commenting on the title of the assembly's 'Proposals', a text that will serve as a guideline for a pastoral reform of the Italian dioceses.

This joy, explains Francis, “is not an easy joy, it is not born of convenient solutions to problems, it does not avoid the cross.”

Defining Christian joy as “trust in God in all of life's situations,” he assures us that it “springs from the certainty that the Lord never leaves us alone.”

And the Pope confides, “I experienced this myself during my hospitalization, and now in this time of convalescence.”

In his texts published since his hospitalization for a serious respiratory infection, Pope Francis regularly speaks about his illness, which he has described as a “time of trial.”

During the Angelus on Sunday, he assured that he was experiencing “healing” in his soul and in his body.