Pope Francis met with children suffering from autism on Saturday during a speech aimed at offering solidarity to people in contact with the condition, according to The Associated Press.

During the speech, the pope said governments and institutions should respond to the needs of people with autism to help break ''the isolation and, in many cases also the stigma" associated with the disorders, the AP reported.

About 7,000 people were present to hear the pope speak, including health care workers who had international conference on autism hosted by the Vatican's health care office this week, according to the AP.

Autism is characterized by varying levels of social impairment and communication difficulties, according to the AP.

Francis offered a prayer before greeting the families of the young children and teens with autism, as well as the kids themselves, the AP reported.

"It was an explosion of emotions," Maria Cristina Fiordi, a mother of a child with autism, said, according to the AP. "For us, we are parents of a child affected with autism, this meeting was very important. It was as an outstretched hand through a problem that is very often not considered in the right way."