Agreement between the Italian Government and the Holy See
to give to the Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital
a suitable location. His story of charity
for a century it has been entrusted to the Pope

by Don Gabriele Cantaluppi

«The care of the most fragile, of those who suffer the most», this is the objective of the agreement, signed on 8 February 2024, between Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and the Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Alfredo Mantovano , to transfer the Bambino Gesù pediatric hospital to the area of ​​the former “Carlo Forlanini” hospital in Rome, whose current structures do not further support healthcare and research activities. The Bambino Gesù hospital, known throughout the world for the quality of its pediatric care, is owned by the Holy See and enjoys the status of extraterritoriality.

At the end of the 19th century, Dukes Arabella and Scipione Salviati wanted the foundation of a pediatric hospital in Rome, on the model of the Hôpital des Enfants Malades in Paris. The "dindarolo" is still preserved, that is, the piggy bank into which the whole family, parents and children, deposited their savings to start this initiative, encouraging the collaboration of friends and acquaintances.

On 19 March 1869, the Daughters of Charity nuns of Saint Vincent de Paul welcomed the first four girls in a twelve-bed structure located in Via delle Zoccolette, not far from the Tiber. This was an evangelical seed, which then grew like a large tree and which today is divided into six centres, three in the city of Rome: Janiculum, San Paolo Fuori le Mura and Viale Ferdinando Baldelli (Ostiense); three others on the Roman coast: Palidoro, Santa Marinella and recently Passoscuro, a center for pediatric palliative care. A total of 627 beds, of which 40 are intensive care and 22 are semi-intensive neonatal units.

Twenty years after the foundation of the hospital, the new urban plan of Rome provided for the construction of the large banks of the Tiber, so the Child Jesus was transferred to the Janiculum Hill, in the ancient convent of Sant'Onofrio. In the two years of work necessary to adapt the environments to the new needs, the healing activity was never interrupted. Already at the time, its nature as a "very special hospital was evident, a concrete sign of the charity and mercy of the Church, a testimony of how it is possible to combine great scientific research, aimed at the care of children, and the free welcome of those needs", as Pope Francis recently attested.

In 1919 Queen Elena had donated Villa Iolanda in Santa Marinella, near Civitavecchia, to the hospital as a home for "poor children who will need marine care". Then a new phase opened exactly a century ago, when with the transfer to the Holy See ordered by the Salviati dukes in 1924, the Bambino Gesù became "the Pope's hospital". New facilities for research on childhood diseases were built, thanks to the interest of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and contributions received from other nations.

But any further development was interrupted by the Second World War, while even the Child Jesus courageously complied with Pius XII's appeal to save Jews and politically persecuted people: during the days the adults were disguised as doctors, nurses and porters, while the children were distributed in the wards to confuse them with those being treated.

After the war, ordinary hospital activities and the renewal of healthcare facilities and equipment were financially supported by the Vatican and the US episcopate.

To increase professional training, the School for Child Care Workers was inaugurated in 1960, highly specialized health services and training courses for medical and nursing staff were then developed and important agreements were signed with various states.

The number of children coming from other Italian regions also led to the promotion of an intense reception activity for families, in particular those involved in long therapeutic journeys, with the help of a network of foundations and hotel organisations.

In 1985 the hospital was recognized as a Scientific Institute for Hospitalization and Care, thus multiplying research and experimental activities, international collaborations and cooperation missions in developing countries. It was Bambino Gesù in 1999, involving other Italian pediatric hospitals, that promoted the Charter of Rights of children in hospital, which will become the basis for developing a style of reception based on the centrality of children and their families.

In 2006 it obtained the first accreditation from the Joint Commission International, an international body that certifies the excellence of the quality of the care offered; three years later, the Bambino Gesù also became a university hospital, with the transfer of the seat of the pediatrics chair from the University of Tor Vergata.

In 2012, a branch was inaugurated at the Basilica of San Paolo Fuori le Mura, activating research laboratories equipped with the most modern technologies for genetic and cellular investigations; subsequently the headquarters in viale Baldelli was renovated, with spaces dedicated to the care of rare diseases. Finally, in March 2022, the Pediatric Palliative Care Center in Passoscuro (Fiumicino) was inaugurated, the first in Lazio and the largest in Italy in terms of beds, which welcomes families and children with highly complex illnesses.

To express the philosophy that inspires the Child Jesus, the expressions of John Paul II in the encyclical Evangelium vitae are well valid: «Man is called to a fullness of life that goes far beyond the dimensions of his earthly existence, since it consists in participation in life of God. The height of this supernatural vocation reveals the greatness and preciousness of human life even in its temporal phase" (n. 2). Children's lives are the most precious, an absolute sign of purity and hope.