ACI Prensa Staff, Jan 12, 2024 / 14:00 pm
Vinicio Riva, an Italian man who suffered from a rare condition and whose moving encounter with Pope Francis after a general audience at the Vatican in 2013 was seen around the world, died in a hospital in Vicenza, Italy, on Jan. 10 at age 58.
A picture of the tender encounter between Riva — who suffered from neurofibromatosis type 1, a genetic disorder that can result in skin lesions — and the pope in 2013 represented one of the most emotional and impactful moments of Francis’ pontificate.
The moving scene was captured after the general audience on Nov. 6, 2013, the year Pope Francis was elected successor of St. Peter. The pontiff embraced Riva while greeting pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square in a vivid gesture of love for people suffering from medical conditions. Francis stopped for several minutes to take Riva into his arms. Moments later, he took him by the face and gave him a blessing.
The Holy Father’s unexpected gesture completely changed Riva’s life, he later said, and helped him better cope with the pain caused by the lesions he had throughout his body. After the pope’s embrace, Riva said he had put aside “all the sorrows.”
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