Pope Francis wants to give Charlie Gard Vatican passport to ‘overcome’ court-rulings banning terminally-ill tot from travelling
POPE Francis wants to give baby Charlie Gard a Vatican passport so he can be treated there, it emerged yesterday.
Court rulings may be “overcome” if the terminally ill 11-month-old becomes a citizen of Vatican City, sources suggest.
One highly placed in the independent sovereign state said: “It would be unprecedented if citizenship was granted to Charlie, but it is being investigated.
“Legal parameters are preventing him from being moved and treated overseas. If that can be overcome, then so be it.
“It is well known the Pope has taken a personal interest in Charlie. He has commented on the case publicly twice.”
Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, added: “We are doing whatever we can.”
The Pope’s hospital, Bambino Gesu, has offered to treat Charlie — and sources said it planned a major announcement today.
Doctors at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital have said Charlie, who has a rare genetic condition, should be allowed to “die with dignity”.
His parents Chris, 32, and Connie, 31, want to take him to the US for life-saving treatment but judges ruled it could cause him more distress.
Last night the couple released a photo of them in the hospital’s St Christopher’s Chapel — where they retreat when things “simply get too much to bear”.
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She said: “We can only hope that various meetings they’ve been having, to which we have not been invited, are positive.”
A family spokesman added: “On rare occasions when Connie and Chris are invited in to talk they feel ambushed.
"They are called in at very short notice, leaving no time to get a lawyer.
“The way they are continually treated as if their views don’t matter is heaping stress on them at a time when naturally they are already very distressed.”
Yesterday 40 MEPs wrote an open letter expressing their “full support” for Charlie.