«We are experiencing an extraordinary moment of solidarity with the Pope who is an elderly, suffering person, at this sick moment. The Pope with his presence and with the decision to share detailed information, is providing us with an extraordinary catechesis on the sense of fragility “. It starts from the participation of the people and from the proximity to the Holy Father Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia, president by the Pontifical Academy for Life to comment on these hours, these days of apprehension at all latitude. “The Catholic world that meets in prayer is an example of the proximity that we must all haveand always, towards fragile people, so that they are not abandoned. And I add: not only the Catholic world. I was in an assembly of ulema Muslims in Bahrain, a few days ago, and everyone prayed to the Pope’s health! ».
It affects the fatigue of the disease, the will with which it also rules by Gemelli.
«He governs himself with his head, has always repeated Pope Francis. It is an example for all of us. Nor do we certainly want to assume, as a model of working efficiency, the “worldly” one, which is often more agitated around themselves than a service to the common good. Moving less does not mean moving less, governing less. It means also giving value to people who have physical disabilities or who have simply become old. The elderly age is not the age of waste from important roles only because it implies lower physical speed. Indeed, calm can go to the benefit of reflection and weighted decisions. Nobody should be left alone. Often the world seems to run, but it is only performance anxiety ».
Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia, 79 years old (photo Ansa)
An effort equal to that of many elderly people who live the same situation …
“In this sense Pope Francis is one of us. The fragility is of all. In this choice of transparency on clinical conditions, I also find a message for the Church and for the whole world. We are invited to focus on the meaning of our life and the meaning of the last destination, which for us Christians is the life of the world that will come, the resurrection from the dead, based on the promise of Jesus who won death. It is of crucial importance. Let’s imagine how much consolation and encouragement can be, for many elderly people sick at home, in hospitals, in the rest homes forced to the wheelchair, see the Pope as one of them, the successor of Pietro who is helped to move and at the same time takes care of the whole church. Life, then, is not over! ».
The world prays for him. But should we not pray for all the sick and the elderly sick?
“We must counter the culture of the waste. And here I would like to clarify a misunderstanding, which concerns our societies. On the themes of euthanasia, of assisted suicide, I see and read many positions. But I invite you to reflect on another aspect: it is the mentality of abandonment towards the patient, who comes well from before, the real hidden “euthanasia” that we must contrast. We must not abandon ourselves, we must not resign ourselves. Perhaps, I don’t know, a law will be made that introduces updated medical and scientific criteria. But it is also necessary to need a law of the heart and mind that indicates the human and solidarity perspective of being close. History, one’s relationships and beliefs, is unique.
Does Francis experience us to rethink the sense of fragility for the Church?
“Fragility is intrinsic in our being men and women. It is a false consumer mentality that leads to thinking that death is only that of others and mine will never come. He sees, I am almost 80 years old and I also ask myself in the end of life, of my life. I don’t want to fall into the Egolatry of which pervasiveness often denounces. Instead, the fragility is of the institutions – we have seen it in Covid – and it is of people, because we all serve our mortality. We have to unite, pray, reflect, feel a family. In the family, conflicts, joys, pains, fragility are faced. There is all this in the living catechesis of John Paul II, of Benedict XVI, Di Francesco, who faced their terminal moments with determination and courage. They are a sign for the Church, for societies, for religions ».
On the cover, a hug between Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia and Pope Francis during the Valentine’s hearing in St. Peter’s Square on February 14, 2014 (photo Ansa)
