Pope Leo greets young Ukrainian cancer survivor as he departs hospital

Their first encounter had already been enough for Varvara. On December 31, during an audience in St. Peter’s Square, she met Pope Leo XIV while suffering from cancer and awaiting surgery. She said she received from him strength and encouragement, telling Vatican News it was “a dream come true.”

Varvara, a 13-year-old Ukrainian girl who received treatment in Italy and has now recovered, never expected security staff at Gemelli Hospital on Saturday to let her approach the Pope’s car and greet him in person as he left the hospital following his discharge.

Their greeting lasted several moments, with a few words exchanged amid cheers and applause and a Ukrainian priest helping to interpret.

Varvara explained to the Pope that their hug in December had given her “the strength to overcome the illness that, fortunately, I have now beaten.”

She also told him that, as soon as she learned he had been hospitalized, she felt she “wanted to come to Rome to pray for him beneath his window and return that important embrace,” together with a wish: “You too will overcome this moment and continue your work of spreading the Gospel.”

Pope Leo blessed and thanked the young native of Berdyansk, who loves history and literature, as well as music, particularly the drums.