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| Alfie Evans: Pope Francis tweets support for sick child | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The Pope has tweeted his support for sick toddler Alfie Evans whose parents lost a legal fight to stop his life support machine being switched off. | The Pope has tweeted his support for sick toddler Alfie Evans whose parents lost a legal fight to stop his life support machine being switched off. |
| Pope Francis said he hoped "everything may be done to "continue compassionately accompanying little Alfie Evans". | Pope Francis said he hoped "everything may be done to "continue compassionately accompanying little Alfie Evans". |
| Last month the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rejected the case of his parents Tom Evans and Kate James. | Last month the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rejected the case of his parents Tom Evans and Kate James. |
| The Merseyside couple wanted to take the 22-month-old to Rome for treatment. | The Merseyside couple wanted to take the 22-month-old to Rome for treatment. |
| Pope Francis said he hoped the "deep suffering" of Alfie's parents would be heard, adding: "I am praying for Alfie, for his family and for all who are involved." | |
| Alfie's parents had taken their fight to keep him alive to the Supreme Court last month but judges upheld an original High Court ruling that he should only receive palliative care. | |
| The toddler is in a "semi-vegetative state" in the Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool. He has a rare degenerative neurological condition that has not been definitively diagnosed by doctors. | |
| His parents from Liverpool wanted to explore further treatment options, hoping that specialists at the Bambino Gesu Paediatric Hospital - which has links to the Vatican - would be able to pinpoint what is wrong with Alfie. | |
| The Pope expressed support last year for another British child when he tweeted his support for the parents of Charlie Gard, whose family lost a similar legal case against Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. |