Dear brothers and sisters,

The Gospel of this fifth Sunday of Lent presents to us the episode of the woman caught in adultery (Jn 8:1-11). While the scribes and the pharisees want to stone her, Jesus restores the lost beauty to this woman. She has fallen in the dust; Jesus passes his finger on this dust and writes a new story for her. It is the “finger of God”, who saves His children (cf. Ex 8:15) and frees them from evil (cf. Lk 11:20).

Dear friends, as during my hospitalization, even now in my convalescence I feel the “finger of God” and experience His caring touch. On the day of the Jubilee of the sick and the world of healthcare, I ask the Lord that this touch of His love may reach those who suffer and encourage those who care for them. And I pray for doctors, nurses and health workers, who are not always helped to work in adequate conditions and are sometimes even victims of aggression. Their mission is not easy and must be supported and respected. I hope that the necessary resources will be invested in treatment and research, so that health systems are inclusive and attentive to the most fragile and the poorest.

I thank the inmates of Rebibbia women’s prison for the note they have sent to me. I pray for them and for their families.

On International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, I hope that sport may be a sign of hope for so many people who need peace and social inclusion, and I thank the sporting associations that educate in fraternity in practical way.

Let us continue to pray for peace: in tormented Ukraine, stricken by attacks that are claiming many civilian victims, including a lot of children. And the same is happening in Gaza, where people are reduced to living in unimaginable conditions, without shelter, without food, without clean water. May the weapons be silenced and dialogue resumed; may all the hostages be freed and aid brought to the population. Let us pray for peace throughout the Middle East; in Sudan and South Sudan; in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; in Myanmar, hard hit by the earthquake; and in Haiti, where violence rages, and two religious sisters were killed a few days ago.

May the Virgin Mary protect us and intercede for us.

06.04.25 a