'Miracle' baby with brain tumour makes progress after being kissed by Pope

 CBS/screenshot

This is the moment last September when Gianna Masciantonio, terminally ill with a brain tumour, was kissed on the head outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia by Pope Francis.

More than six months later, Gianna is not only still alive, she is much improved.

Her family refuse to talk of a "miracle", but that does not stop others from doing so.

Soon after she was born, Gianna was diagnosed with juvenile xanthogranuloma, a rare brain stem tumour.

Security services helped her family obtain passes so they could meet the Pope when he visited Philadelphia last year. When her father passed her up to him as he passed for a blessing, the Pope stopped and kissed her on the back of her head, close to the site of the tumour.

Just weeks later, a scan showed the tumour seemed to have shrunk.

The family do not claim a miraculous healing but do talk of how the Pope's kiss brought them hope.

"It gave us strength," her father Joey Masciantonio told Eyewitness News. "That kiss meant more to my family than anyone could ever imagine, "

The Pope has asked to be kept in touch with her progress and has signed a photograph of him kissing Gianna.

And only this week, as the city continues to take the family to its heart, Gianna's brother Dominic, aged five, was sworn in as an honorary deputy marshall for a day.

It was FBI Special Agent Don Asper who helped the family catch the Pope's attention in Market Street.

"No one there on the street knew anything was wrong with Gianna. They didn't know her condition. The Pope certainly didn't know that she had an inoperable brain tumour," Asper told Eyewitness.

Gianna is currently coming to the end of her latest chemotherapy. 

related articles
Pope Francis performs \'half miracle\' in Naples by turning blood into liquid
Pope Francis performs 'half miracle' in Naples by turning blood into liquid

Pope Francis performs 'half miracle' in Naples by turning blood into liquid

Divine intervention\': Pope Francis heals baby with holes in her heart, parents say
Divine intervention': Pope Francis heals baby with holes in her heart, parents say

Divine intervention': Pope Francis heals baby with holes in her heart, parents say

Another Pope Francis miracle: Paralyzed girl set to junk wheelchair and walk again
Another Pope Francis miracle: Paralyzed girl set to junk wheelchair and walk again

Another Pope Francis miracle: Paralyzed girl set to junk wheelchair and walk again

Pope Francis shows his healing power once again: New Jersey girl, 12, now cancer-free after he kissed her
Pope Francis shows his healing power once again: New Jersey girl, 12, now cancer-free after he kissed her

Pope Francis shows his healing power once again: New Jersey girl, 12, now cancer-free after he kissed her

News
Richard Moth appointed as new Archbishop of Westminster
Richard Moth appointed as new Archbishop of Westminster

Bishop Richard Moth has been confirmed as the new Archbishop of Westminster, the most senior post in the Catholic Church in England and Wales. 

The mystery of the Wise Men
The mystery of the Wise Men

The carol assures us that “We three kings of Orient are…” and tells us they were “following yonder star”. Can we be sure there were three of them? Were they kings? Where in the Orient were they from? What was the star they followed? In fact, there is a lot that we just do not know. This is the story …

English Heritage deletes debunked claims about pagan origins of Christmas Day
English Heritage deletes debunked claims about pagan origins of Christmas Day

English Heritage has admitted it got it wrong when it shared false claims that the date of Christmas is derived from a pagan Roman festival in honour of a sun god.

Guinness Book of Records recognises 'the world’s longest serving Sunday School teacher'
Guinness Book of Records recognises 'the world’s longest serving Sunday School teacher'

Pam Knowles started helping out her church Sunday school in 1951 at the age of 13.