Octave, a two-year-old child who has been in the hospital since birth, will leave the hospital for the first time today at the request of his parents. The purpose of this outing is to meet Pope Leon XIV.
The child's mother, Sofia, plans to take her son onto the streets of Paris during Pope Leon's procession, hoping that the pontiff will see her child and bless him. Before Octave's birth, he was diagnosed with diaphragmatic hernia—an abnormality in the muscle separating the chest and abdominal cavities. Due to this health condition, he had not left the hospital for two years of his life.
Today, the situation changes: Octave's family has received permission to go out with their son. According to Le Parisien, they intend to be near Notre Dame Cathedral, where the Pope will preside over mass, to watch the moment when the Pope passes through the streets of the French capital. The family hopes that Leon XIV will notice them and possibly get off the Papamobile to bless their son.
It should be noted that Leon XIV arrived at Paris-Orly Airport at 10 am this Friday (one hour earlier than in Lisbon) and held a courtesy visit with Emmanuel Macron. Today is the first day of the four-day visit to France, during which he will visit Paris, Lourdes, and Metz.
This visit is the Pope's first to France since Benedict XVI's visit in September 2008, making it 18 years later. Pope Leon XIV is expected to deliver grand masses, a packed program, and great public and media enthusiasm, as this visit is seen as an opportunity for the Catholic Church striving for renewal. Thousands of security personnel were mobilized for this papal visit, which costs 27 million euros.