Boris Johnson has dismissed the Pope’s offer for terminally-ill baby Charlie Gard to be treated in his private hospital.
The Foreign Secretary told his Italian counterpart it was “right that decisions (surrounding the baby’s care) continued to be led by expert medical opinion, supported by the courts".
Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano raised the offer made by the president of the Bambino Gesu hospital in Rome, after Pope Francis called for Charlie's parents to be allowed to "accompany and treat their child until the end".
Charlie suffers from a rare mitochondrial condition and has severe brain damage.
Charlie’s parents, Connie Yates, 31, and Chris Gard, 32, lost a legal battle against doctors at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital to take their son to the US for experimental treatment.
They are now spending the last days of his life with him.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "Minister Alfano raised the case of Charlie Gard and the Pope's recent offer of treatment in Italy.
"The Foreign Secretary said this was a deeply tragic and complex case for all involved, and said it was right that decisions continued to be led by expert medical opinion, supported by the courts, in line with Charlie's best interests."
The president of the Bambino Gesu hospital, Mariella Enoc, told reporters she had asked GOSH if Charlie could be transferred but was informed he could not be moved.
A spokesman for the hospital said: "Great Ormond Street Hospital kindly told us that there is a legal problem about Charlie's transfer to Bambino Gesu's children's hospital.
"For now, what we can say is that we are trying to solve the legal problem."
It comes after Theresa May said GOSH would consider any offers or new information relating to the "wellbeing of a desperately ill child".
Mrs May said: "I am confident that Great Ormond Street Hospital have and always will consider any offers or new information that has come forward with consideration of the wellbeing of a desperately ill child".
Donald Trump also tweeted in support of the tot and claimed the White House had been in talks with his family, the Pope and the Government over his treatment.
