Chicago school students prepare care package for Pope Leo XIV
Students at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy in Chicago are preparing get-well cards and a Chicago White Sox blanket for Pope Leo XIV as he recovers from lung surgery. The students belong to Team 14, a group named after the Pope that previously met him in Rome after staging a mock conclave. Team 14 also holds monthly prayer and service meetings, including food drives. The Holy See Press Office said the Pope’s postoperative recovery was progressing normally after tests and a chest X-ray.
about 10 hours ago
Students at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy in Chicago are preparing get-well cards and a Chicago White Sox blanket for Pope Leo XIV as he recovers in hospital after lung surgery. The students belong to Team 14, a group named for the Pope, who is from Chicago.
Team 14 has about 40 students. The group gained attention after staging a mock conclave last year; some members later travelled to Rome and met the Pope. The students also hold monthly prayer and service gatherings, including food drives.
Two students said they felt close to the Pope and were concerned about his health, particularly because they had met him and wanted him to stay well.
Pope Leo XIV underwent surgery at Gemelli Hospital on Tuesday, during which doctors removed the lower lobe of his right lung. The Holy See Press Office said Wednesday that scheduled blood tests and a chest X-ray showed his postoperative recovery was progressing normally.
Christian solidarity calls communities to care for the sick
Christian solidarity with the sick is more than sympathy: it is love made concrete through presence, practical care, and shared responsibility. In the Good Samaritan, Jesus teaches that the suffering neighbor is someone we must draw near to and help, not pass by.
This care belongs to the whole community. Families, neighbors, health-care workers, volunteers, parishes, and institutions can each contribute according to their role; Pope Leo XIV describes caring for the sick as an ecclesial action—the Church serving Christ in those who suffer.
Solidarity also calls communities to confront obstacles that leave people without needed care. Christian solidarity is nourished by love and urges support for the sick, especially those made vulnerable by poverty or unequal access to health care.