Pope Francis was once captured consoling a sobbing little Italian boy who had asked if his dead atheist father had still gone to heaven in a touching video.
The footage of the tear-jerking encounter resurfaced Monday after the pontiff’s death, as the world remembered some of the most heartfelt moments of his papacy.
The emotional video captured the child, named Emanuele, trying to ask the pope a question during a visit to the St. Paul of the Cross Parish in Rome in April 2018.
After the boy broke down in tears as he struggled to get his question out, the pontiff quickly said: “Come, come to me, Emanuele. Come and whisper it in my ear.”
The pope then wrapped the boy in a tight embrace when he finally approached Francis on stage.
The pair spoke with their heads nearly touching for several moments before Pope Francis asked the youngster if he could tell the crowd of their exchange.
Pope Francis said Emanuele’s father, who was non-religious but had baptized his four children, had recently died.
The child, according to the pontiff, wanted to know if his dad would still be accepted in heaven given he was a good man.
“What a beautiful witness of a son who inherited the strength of his father, who had the courage to cry in front of all of us,” Francis said.
“If that man was able to make his children like that, then it’s true, he was a good man.”
When the pope asked the crowd of youngsters whether they thought God would abandon his children when they are good, they all shouted back, “No!”
“There, Emanuele, that is the answer,” Francis said.
“God surely was proud of your father, because it is easier as a believer to baptize your children than to baptize them when you are not a believer. Surely this pleased God very much.”