Pope brings gifts to children at Rome hospital

(January 06, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday visited a Rome hospital where he distributed gifts to children on the eve of the Catholic Feast of the Epiphany. Dozens of children - some held in the arms of their parents - waved yellow-and-white Vatican flags to greet the 83-year-old pontiff as he arrived at the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic. Some of the patients of the hospital's paediatric centre sang a hymn for the pontiff who, thanking them, offered prayers that they may be cured of their illnesses. The pontiff also received several gifts from the children, including drawings and puppets. Presents are traditionally unwrapped on Christmas Day, but in Italy this is sometimes delayed until January 6, which marks the Epiphany, when the three Magi are believed to have brought their gifts to baby Jesus. The Pope said that the purpose of his visit was to thank the children who warmly welcomed him, to tell them that he loves them and is close to them in his prayers to give them strength in dealing with the disease. Like the Magi who presented Jesus with gold frankincense and myrrh, "today I too have brought you some gifts so that you may feel, through a small token, the empathy, the closeness and affection of the pope," the Pontiff told the children. The Pope asked them to look into the cave of Bethlehem and meet Mary and Joseph, but there is also a child, small, helpless, in need of attention, care and love. Jesus is that child, who is God himself who wanted to come to earth to show that he loves you, it is God who became like you child to tell you that he is always close to you and to say to each one of you that in each child reflects the face of God. During the visit, Pope Benedict XVI also blessed a new unit for the care of children born with spina bifida - a birth defect, also known as "split spine," in which the vertebrae do not form properly. In severe cases, it can make walking or daily activities hard to do without help.