Pope Francis has expressed his sadness over the death of British baby Alfie Evans at Alder Hey hospital on Saturday after his parents lost their final battle in court to prevent doctors from turning his life support machine off.
Doctors turned off the life support earlier on Monday.
The Pope took to his Twitter handle, @pontifex, to share in the pain of the parents of the toddler.
He wrote: “I am deeply moved by the death of little Alfie. Today I pray especially for his parents, as God the Father receives him in his tender embrace.”
The pontiff had shown support for the efforts of the parents of the toddler to get him help outside of the UK.
Until his death, Alfie suffered from a degenerative medical condition and his parents, Kate James and Thomas Evans, sought to get him from a hospital in Liverpool in northwest England to a clinic in Rome, against doctors advice. They lost a final court appeal on Wednesday.
To announce his death, his parents shared the news on their Facebook page, writing; “Our baby grew his wings tonight at 2:30am (0130 GMT). We are heartbroken. Thank you, everyone, for all your support.”
