In replying, the Holy Father quotes Saint John Paul II: ”There is no evil from which God is unable to draw a greater good”
Why Did God Not Save My Son? Pope Francis Responds to a Letter from a Mother Who Lost Her Son | ZENIT – English
(ZENIT News / Rome, 02.03.2025).- Made public on February 27 was a letter that Pope Francis wrote in response to a mother who lost her son. “There are not even words to give a name to a mother or a father who loses a child. A woman who loses her husband is a widow. A husband who loses his wife is a widower. The child who loses its parents is an orphan. But for a father who loses a son there is no word.” Pope Francis wrote this in the pages of the monthly magazine “Saint Peter’s Square,” which explores topics of faith, spirituality and daily life, responding every month to a letter addressed to him. In this case, it’s that of a woman who experienced the greatest of sorrows: to see her own son die.
Cynthia’s tragedy, a Roman mother who lost her 21-year-old son in a car accident, moved the Holy Father. “Jesus, who mourns with us, will sow in our hearts all the answers that we seek,” was the Pope’s message, written in the days prior to his hospitalization. Quoting Saint John Paul II, he wrote: “There is no evil from which God cannot draw a greater good.”
Here is Cynthia’s letter to the Pope and his response.
LETTER TO POPE FRANCIS
Dear Pope Francis,
I am Cynthis, Fabrizio’s mother, a youth who was only 21 years old, [who was] good, generous and altruistic, who on the night of October 4-5 of 2019, went out for an evening with friends, but never returned home because the car in which he was seated in the back seat, driven by a youth of his age with a new driver’s licence, overturned several times for not respecting traffic rules, and Fabrizio was hit the hardest, saving the girl seated next to him, but leaving our whole family plunged in the most atrocious pain.
After the tragedy, my husband and I were drowned in darkness; we felt hatred, anger, sorrow and lost our faith. Then, on December 8, 2019, thanks to the Virgin Mary, I returned to the faith and began to pray again; my husband, instead, could not do so. We realized we had to do something to recover and give meaning to that tragedy. We became volunteers of the Red Cross. We founded a non-profit Association [called] “Together for Fabrizio APS,” to help those that suffer and need help, with the objective of promoting a culture that favors life and the values associated with it, in particular working in schools and in all places of gatherings for the prevention [of such accidents] and road safety.
Pope Francis, thank you for your words last October 31 addressed to parents who had lost a child and, precisely because of this, I would like to ask you: Why did the Lord not save Fabrizio, giving us this great sorrow, which is always present in our hearts? And where is Fabrizio? Is he in Heaven? Has he become our Guardian Angel? Only you, Holy Father, can answer these questions that afflict me daily.
Thank you very much and I pray for you every day.
Cynthia from Rome
POPE FRANCIS’ ANSWER
Dear Cynthia,
Your prayer is born from the most atrocious and anti-natural pain: the loss of your son Fabrizio. A short while ago, as you will recall, I said that there are no words, not even words of consolation even with the best intention.
In fact, these words might end up enlarging the wound. Know that I am with you, and I wish I could console you as Jesus consoled the afflicted and encouraged hope.
There aren’t even words that can name a mother or a father who has lost a child. A woman who loses her husband is a widow. A husband who loses his wife is a widower. The child who loses its parents in an orphan. But there is no word for a parent who loses a child.
The answer to your questions stems from a premise. Always ask for Mary’s intercession, who has helped you so much and will always be close to you and your husband Anthony. And I would like our prayers to be the words of Don Tonino Bello’s prayer “Virgin of Hope”:
“Holy Mary, Woman of Hope, console the sorrow of mothers for their children that, having left the house one day, never returned [. . . ] Waiting is always a sign of hope. Therefore, make us ministers of hope. And may the Lord who comes, Virgin of Advent, surprise us, also by your maternal complicity, with a lamp in your hand.
We cannot have all the answers to the mystery of innocent suffering. Today also, Mary participates and shares in your sorrow as Mother of Humanity, Mother of us all. A close Mother who remains in silence and accompanies every broken heart.
I am also helped by some words of Saint John Paul II: “”There is no evil from which God is unable to draw a greater good.” And this must give us hope, dear Cynthia and Anthony. In prayer, in the grace that God gives us every day without measure, in the progress of our path of faith, in our sacramental life, let us open our heart sincerely. Jesus, who mourns with us, will sow in our hearts all the answers that we seek.
The encounter with Him is the Love that saves, a Love greater than any evil.
Francis
Translation of the Italian original into Spanish by ZENIT’s Editorial Director and, into English, by Virginia M. Forrester.
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