He asked for a sign of running into any old friend in Rome who would essentially tell him to keep up the good work. 

He was attending a meeting in Rome, which is full of cardinals, bishops, priests, and other Vatican functionaries, many of them old-line holdovers from the previous two popes, and based on what we've heard, some of them quite adept at their stalling and efforts to undercut Pope Francis.  Honestly, I think it would have been more of a sign from God if he *hadn't* run into an old friend who agrees with him and told him to keep writing.

(And could he mention if he had asked his old friend if he should keep writing, after laying out his complaints?)