After the Pope and President Trump made statements about the fate of little Charlie Gard, the famous Hospital of the Vatican is requesting that Charlie Gard be allowed to be transported there. The European Court of Human Rights ruled against Gard's parents who raised money to send their child to the United States for experimental therapy to treat his terminal illness.
The Bambino Gesù Hospital is owned by the Vatican and is located in Rome, Italy.
"We know that it is a desperate case and that there are no effective therapies," said Mariella Enoc, the president of the hospital, "we are close to the parents in prayer and, if this is their desire, willing to take their child, for the time he has left to live."
Enoc has asked the hospital's health director to request Gard be allowed to be moved there from London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital. Gard was to be taken off life-supporting machines on Friday following the court's decision, but that has been extended.
On Sunday, Pope Benedict called for the parents to be allowed to treat their son "until the end."
The Vatican released a statement saying, "The Holy Father is following with affection and emotion the situation of little Charlie Gard and expresses his closeness to his parents. He is praying for them, in the hope that their desire to accompany and care for their own child until the end will be respected."
Earlier Trump tweeted in support of saving Gard from his social media account:
The case has garnered international attention as an example of overbearing state power infringing on the rights of parents who simply want to give their son any chance to stay alive.
