“A point of reference in Rome, in Italy and in many other places in the world” and a hospital "in the vanguard for the national and international scientific community". It is the Bambino Gesù, the Vatican-owned children hospital in Italy and Europe, an integral part of the heritage of the city of Rome, in the words of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, who celebrated the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the hospital this morning in the headquarters of San Paolo fuori le Mura. Together with him the Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, who praised the service carried out in these decades by the hospital open to all: poor, rich, young, adults, children, Italians and foreigners.

"The future is a story of children" is the motto the hospital has chosen for the celebrations of the 150th anniversary. But the past is also a story of children, or rather of the four girls who on March 19, 1869 were entrusted to two doctors and some Vincentians to be treated in a room a stone's throw from the Tiber that had been granted by Pope Pius IX himself. From that first nucleus, thanks to a "generous intuition" of the Salviati family (an of the family’s heiress, Duchess Maria Grazia, intervened during the event), the Bambino Gesù has continued to expand over the years until it became an international point of reference with great numbers: 607 beds, 28,000 admissions, 29,000 surgical and interventional procedures and about 2 million outpatient services, just to name a few figures.

Numbers "that do not want to be a glorification but only a humble representation of what the hospital is and does", said President Mariella Enoc in her speech in the auditorium of the headquarters of San Paolo fuori le Mura. The auditorium, she announced “will be named after Professor Valerio Nobili, the Bambino Gesù’s luminary whose researches are internationally known, and who died last Friday at the age of 53 from an illness while riding a bicycle.

Professor Nobili was also remembered by the Mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi and by the President of the Lazio Region Nicola Zingaretti who, in their respective interventions, also stressed the fundamental contribution of the hospital to the city of Rome. "To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Bambino Gesù hospital is to celebrate one of the treatment and research centres that make our region, Lazio, unique. It is a hospital in Rome, but it is also a hospital in the world, for many from all over the world found here a place of hope for their loved ones”, the governor said, while major Raggi praised "the whole great family of professionals" of the Child Jesus who, day after day, perform the "miracle of solidarity".

The mayor also announced that the City has sold two properties and that now "is in the process of buying a third where to create the new center institute for cancer and transplants in Villa Pamphilij.

In short, the partnership between the city of Rome and what is historically known as "the Pope's Hospital" continues and is strengthened more than ever. "The Child Jesus remains a treasure to be protected and invested in," Zingaretti said. All the more so, Parolin stressed, that " Even if the situation has radically changed since the time of its first pioneering experiences, the church will never stop paying attention to the sick with that look of love and with that ‘prophetic’ attitude”. "Italy - he stressed in his speech, during which he said to bring the greeting and blessing of the Pope - has started and consolidated a system of National Health Service, which aims to achieve the principle of equality proclaimed in Article 3 of the Constitution. All citizens, rich or poor, young or old, have the right to healthcare. In this way, life is protected and promoted".

This system involves different institutional actors, such as the Regions and the State, and at the same time interweaves private action with public action. A "complex reality" which, as the Vatican Secretary of State stated, "must be constantly followed, governed, supported and stimulated, so that the level of services provided and their quality is always adequate to the human dignity of every sick person".

Every sick person, the cardinal repeated, in particular, the "new health poverties: chronic and rare diseases, mental disorders, the elderly and the marginalized". "The latter will always have to be protected, families will always need to be involved in the action of curing, networks will always need to be activated so that no one is left alone," said Parolin.

“Putting the sick at the center means, among other things, knowing how to combine the action of curing the disease with that of taking care of the whole patient, of his or her person and of his or her emotional, relational, psychological and even spiritual world,” the cardinal said.

And he urged to "invest in scientific innovation paths to meet the challenges of the future," because "curing necessarily passes through research, which always requires major investment in structures, technologies and human resources”.

In this regard, the Vatican "Prime Minister" recalled the recent opening - after two years of work - in Bangui, capital wounded by wars and violence in the Central African Republic, of a "Centre for therapeutic re-nutrition for malnourished children" and the renovated building of the Complexe pediatrique. "This is a testimony - he pointed out - that for Bambino Gesù Hospital, there are no walls or boundaries, nor race or religious affiliation that separate it from charity".

At the end of the ceremony, President Mattarella greeted the meeting and, briefly thanked the doctors and researchers, especially the young ones, for their "enthusiasm". "It is difficult to imagine anyone in Rome who has not had contact or experience with the hospital for themselves, their children or their grandchildren", the head of state noted, and its "widespread and shared" appreciation is proof of this. It is for this reason and for so much more that, Mattarella concluded, "the Bambino Gesù Hospital has the gratitude of the entire Italian Republic".