«In these days I have felt the children particularly close to me»

So said John Paul II when he left the Gemelli general hospital

John Paul II greets the crowd of faithful as he leaves the Gemelli hospital the evening of 10 february

The night between 1 and 2 February John Paul II was hospitalized in the “Agostino Gemelli” general hospital because of an acute laryngotracheitis and a laryngospasm crisis. The news spread quickly throughout the world and the mass media followed the Pope’s stay in the hospital hour by hour. After a positive development in his clinical situation, John Paul II returned to the Vatican the evening of 10 February. Before leaving the Gemelli, the Pontiff in a letter to the rector of the Catholic University, thanked and blessed the doctors and staff of the hospital. He invoked the «heavenly protection of the Blessed Virgin of Lourdes in a special way for the children, whom I have felt particularly close to me in these days».
Of the witness borne by the Pope during his stay in the Gemelli, 30Days, heard the reflections of Cardinals Tarciso Bertone, a Salesian, archbishop of Genoa; José Saraiva Martins, a Claretine, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints; Mario Francesco Pompedda, until last year prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signet.