(Video: WLS, CNN via CNN Newsource) —
A group of young students in Chicago gathered Wednesday to pray for Pope Leo XIV and send love and hometown support his way.
Students at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy prayed and sent messages of love and support to the pope after learning of his surgery and lung cancer diagnosis, WLS reports.
The students, some of whom met the pontiff at the Vatican last year, belong to “Team 14,” a student organization named for Pope Leo XIV.
They made the care package together, including a White Sox tie blanket and get-well cards.
“It feels really nice to wish him well because he’s like a close friend, and I was really sad when I heard he was sick,” Ines Martins, a sixth-grade student, told WLS’ Lissette Nuñez.
“I was a little bit nervous for Pope Leo because I’ve met him, and he has a big role, and I want him to stay healthy,” eighth-grader Lucas Knudsen said.
Students also shared personalized notes, including messages that asked the pope to feel better and said the school is praying for him and his doctors.
School officials said they will send the gifts to the hospital in Rome where the pope is receiving care.
“It’s important to us to model for our students how we can live our faith in small ways, and sometimes just accompanying someone through prayer and a small action can be really impactful in hard times,” Allison Foerster said.
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