Pope Leo XIV by Catholic Church England and Wales (Mazur/cbcew.org.uk) / Flickr
Pope Leo XIV offered consolation to family members and met Aug. 2 with the group of young pilgrims who traveled with an 18-year-old pilgrim from Cairo, Egypt, who died reportedly from heart failure Aug. 1 while in Italy for the Jubilee of Youth.
Pascale Rafic, affectionately known as “Pasco,” was a part of the Egyptian Greek-Melkite Catholic group traveling to Rome for the event, according to an Aug. 3 Fides report. On Aug. 1, Rafic was returning into Rome by bus from a pilgrimage at the city of Artena, about an hour away from the Vatican, when her heart stopped, according to the report. An autopsy will determine the exact cause of her death, which remains unknown.
The outlet reports that just before her death, Rafic participated in the penitential rite of the Jubilee of Youth at the Circus Maximus, where she received the Sacrament of Confession.
Upon learning of her death Aug. 2, Pope Leo contacted Auxiliary Bishop Jean-Marie Chami of the Patriarchate of Antioch of the Greek Melkites for Egypt, Sudan, and South Sudan, who was traveling with the group, “to express his spiritual closeness to the young woman’s family and the entire community,” the Holy See Press Office said in a statement.
“In sharing in the mourning of those affected by this tragic episode, the Holy Father assures all of his heartfelt prayers and invokes the Lord’s comfort and consolation upon Pascale’s family members, friends and all of those who grieve her loss,” the office added.
The young pilgrims met with Pope Leo the morning of Aug. 2, and the Pontiff gave them a personal blessing and consolation centered on the hope of the risen Lord.
“Of course, the sadness that death brings to all of us is something that is very human and very understandable, especially being so far away from home and on an occasion like this when we really come together to celebrate our faith with joy,” Pope Leo told them, according to Fides. “And then all of a sudden, we are reminded in a very powerful way, that our life is not superficial nor do we have control over our own lives nor do we know as Jesus himself says, neither the day nor the hour when for some reason our earthly life ends.”
He pointed to the Gospel account of Martha and Mary, whose brother Lazarus died while Jesus was not with them. Jesus arrives several days later and raises Lazarus from the dead, and the sisters come to understand “that Jesus is life and resurrection,” Pope Leo said, according to Fides.
“And so in a certain way, as we celebrate this Jubilee year of hope, we are reminded in a very powerful way how much our faith in Jesus Christ needs to be part of who we are,” Pope Leo said, “of how we live, of how we appreciate and respect one another, and especially of how we continue to move forward in spite of such painful experiences.”
According to Fides, Rafic had just finished high school and hoped to be a physiotherapist.
