Vinicio Riva, whose face was disfigured by von Recklinghausen’s disease and who received a long embrace from Pope Francis ten years ago in St. Peter’s Square, has passed away at age 58.
It’s likely not the first time readers have seen the image that precedes these lines. It captures the tender encounter between Vinicio Riva and Pope Francis in 2013, an embrace that circled the globe and represents one of the most emotional and striking moments of Francis’s pontificate.
The protagonist of this image, captured after the General Audience on November 6 of the year Pope Francis was elected Peter’s successor, was Vinicio Riva, the Italian who suffered from a disease known as neurofibromatosis since the age of 15 and who passed away in the Vicenza hospital (Italy) on January 10 at the age of 58.
While greeting pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square, in an intense gesture of love for those suffering from diseases, Pope Francis paused for several minutes to embrace Vinicio. Moments later, he took Vinicio’s face in his hands and gave him his blessing.
The closeness of the Holy Father completely changed the life of this man, and this gesture of love helped him better face the pain caused by the wounds that covered his body. After the embrace with the Pontiff, Vinicio claimed to have set aside “all the sorrows”.
“I am not contagious, but he didn’t know that” In an interview with the Italian magazine Panorama, the Vicenza local recounted that when he met Pope Francis, he first kissed his hand, “while he with the other was caressing my head and wounds”.
“Then he pulled me close and hugged me tightly, gave me a kiss on the face. My head was against his chest and his arms were welcoming me. He hugged me tightly, tightly”.
“I tried to speak, to say anything, but I couldn’t: the emotion was too strong. It was just over a minute, but to me, it seemed like an eternity. Then I turned to see my aunt and told her: here I leave the sorrows, here the sorrows stay”, he added.
The Italian also mentioned at the time that Pope Francis’s hands “were soft, soft and very beautiful. His smile was clean and open”. Then he remembered the emotional embrace with the Pope: “He didn’t think twice about whether to embrace me or not. I am not contagious, but he didn’t know that. He just did it: he caressed my entire face and while doing so I only felt love”.
With a voice almost a whisper due to a throat operation, Vinicio fondly recalled that day and assured that the gesture of Pope Francis helped him fight against Recklinghausen’s disease, a rare illness known as type 1 neurofibromatosis.
