Following Pope Francis' death on April 21, 2025, a statement attributed to him recirculated across multiple social media platforms, including Instagram (archived), X (archived) and Facebook (archived). It also spread to at least one religious blog (archived).
While many users appeared to believe the attribution to Pope Francis was correct, others raised questions (archived) regarding the quote's authenticity.
The full text of the alleged statement was as follows:
The walls of hospitals have heard more honest prayers than churches...They have witnessed far more sincere kisses than those in airports...It is in hospitals that you see a homophobe being saved by a gay doctor.A privileged doctor saving the life of a beggar...In intensive care, you see a Jew taking care of a racist...A police officer and a prisoner in the same room receiving the same care...A wealthy patient waiting for a liver transplant, ready to receive the organ from a poor donor...It is in these moments, when the hospital touches the wounds of people, that different worlds intersect according to a divine design. And in this communion of destinies, we realize that alone, we are nothing.The absolute truth of people, most of the time, only reveals itself in moments of pain or in the real threat of an irreversible loss.A hospital is a place where human beings remove their masks and show themselves as they truly are, in their purest essence.This life will pass quickly, so do not waste it fighting with people.Do not criticize your body too much.Do not complain excessively.Do not lose sleep over bills.Make sure to hug your loved ones.Do not worry too much about keeping the house spotless.Material goods must be earned by each person—do not dedicate yourself to accumulating an inheritance.. . .You are waiting for too much: Christmas, Friday, next year, when you have money, when love arrives, when everything is perfect...Listen, perfection does not exist.A human being cannot attain it because we are simply not made to be fulfilled here.Here, we are given an opportunity to learn.So, make the most of this trial of life—and do it now.Respect yourself, respect others. Walk your own path, and let go of the path others have chosen for you.Respect: do not comment, do not judge, do not interfere.Love more, forgive more, embrace more, live more intensely!And leave the rest in the hands of the Creator.
Pope Francis did not say or write the quoted statement. No reputable news outlet reported the pope delivered such a statement, it is not featured on the official Vatican website, and Google search results don't indicate the pope ever said anything of the kind.
It's unclear exactly where or when this quote originated. However, versions of it attributed to Pope Francis can be traced back to at least 2018 (archived). A version of the beginning of the quote is traceable to a 2014 Pop Sugar "Powerful Quotes" compilation:
(popsugar.com)
Also, Pope Francis struggled to speak in the days preceding his death, according to Reuters (archived). He battled lung disease in the months before he died, making it difficult to speak for any amount of time, much less utter the entirety of the quoted passage.
In sum, the exact origins of this quote are unclear, but versions of it have existed on the internet as far back as 2014, far preceding the pope's hospitalization. There is no evidence on official sites or credible reports in books or periodicals that Pope Francis made such a statement at any time. Therefore, we rate this claim as an incorrect attribution.