Pope Francis has addressed the case of Charlie Gard, days after Great Ormond Street Hospital agreed to extend the 10-month-old’s treatment for the sake of the family.

 

A statement released by The Vatican confirmed that the Pope has been following the 10-month-old’s case ‘with affection and sadness’.

 

“For this, he prays that their wish to accompany and treat their child until the end isn’t neglected,” it further read.

 

The statement comes just days after medics at Great Ormond Street Hospital announced that they would be extending Charlie’s term of treatment, so as to let his family spend more time with him.

 

The tot’s life-support was supposed to be switched off on Friday. Parents Connie and Chris were left particularly distressed over the decision as, not only were they being prohibited from bringing him home to die, but loved ones weren’t going to have enough time to say their goodbyes.

 

 

“To defend human life, above all when it is wounded by illness, is a duty of love that God entrusts to all.” @franciscus

A post shared by #charliesfight (@charliesfight) on

 

In the video, shared with MailOnline.com, Connie and Chris couldn’t hold back their tears as they blasted the Great Ormond Street medics for 'stripping them of their parental rights’.

 

“We can’t even take our own son home to die – we’ve been denied that,” said a tearful Chris.

 

Connie and Chris’ devastation comes after the European Court of Human Rights ruled against intervening in Charlie’s case. Previously, they lost each strand of their legal battle at the British courts.

 

Charlie’s parents want to bring the tot – who suffers from a rare genetic illness – to the States to try an experimental treatment. Through crowdfunding, they have even been able to raise the £1.3 million required to send him for the treatment.

 

While experts at Great Ormond Street Hospital claim that Charlie is unresponsive, his parents have been posting evidence claiming the opposite to his many social media accounts.

 

 

Connie and Chris have been receiving plenty of support from concerned members of the public, who have been following their embittered court battle at every step of the way.

 

Acknowledging the Pope’s statement this week, they posted a black-and-white photo from moments after Charlie’s birth, quoting his Holiness in the caption: “To defend human life, above all when it is wounded by illness, is a duty of love that God entrusts to all.”

 

The quote, tweeted over the weekend on the official Pontifex Twitter account, echoes a previous statement issued by the Pontifical Academy for Life.

 

Commenting on Charlie’s case, a rep said: “We should never act with the deliberate intention to end a human life, including the removal of nutrition and hydration.

 

 “We do, sometimes, however, have to recognise the limitations of what can be done, while always acting humanely in the service of the sick person until the time of natural death occurs.”

 

Connie, Chris and Charlie remain in our thoughts at this time, and we will keep you updated on the story as more information emerges.

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