Pope thanks Italian doctors and
health care workers for heroic service during pandemic
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| Doctors and medical staff in an ICU in Northern Italy (ANSA) |
Pope Francis receives in audience religious and civil
authorities together with a delegation of doctors, nurses, health care and
civil protection workers from the northern Lombardy region, the epicentre of
the Covid-19 pandemic in Italy.
By Vatican News
The highly industrialized and productive region of Lombardy
in northern Italy is the hardest hit in terms of infections and fatalities due
to Covid-19. The country’s first local case emerged on 21 February in the town
of Codogno in Lombardy. Codogno and nine other towns in Lombardy and Veneto
were closed off, and eventually the entire country locked down in early March.
Since the epidemic started, more than 34,000 people have died of Covid-19
in Italy, one of the world’s worst death tolls.
On the front lines of the epidemic was an army of doctors,
nurses, health care and civil protection workers. They risked – and many gave -
their lives, working against the odds to tackle the emergency and care for the
sick, who were put in isolation to curb the spread of the disease. Those who
died were comforted by those caring for them, by priests and consecrated
persons, as families and loved ones were in lockdown and unable to be present
at the end of their lives.
These are the people Pope Francis has chosen to thank for
their heroic work in one of the first audiences he has held in the Vatican
since Italy and the Vatican were locked down early in March.
Addressing a delegation that included the President of the
Lombardy Region, the Archbishop of Milan, the Bishops of a number of hard-hit
dioceses, priests, consecrated persons and representatives of the medical and
civil protection sectors, Pope Francis said his embrace goes to all those who
have found themselves on the front lines of the pandemic, including researchers
of Rome’s “Spallanzani” Hospital that has done much to combat the virus.
The Pope, who live-streamed Holy Mass every morning from the
Casa Santa Marta, bringing comfort and closeness to millions of people across
the world, said his thoughts also turn to various realities of Italian society,
who during these troubled months have endeavoured to face the health emergency
with generosity and commitment.
A visible sign of humanity
“More than ever we feel gratitude for the doctors, nurses
and all health care workers, on the front line as they carried out an arduous
and sometimes heroic service,” he said, describing them as “a visible sign of
humanity that warms the heart.”
“Many of them fell ill and some unfortunately died in the
exercise of their profession. We remember them in prayer with much gratitude,”
the Pope said.
He spoke of how “in the whirlwind of an epidemic with
shocking and unexpected effects, the reliable and generous presence of medical
and paramedical staff was the sure point of reference, first of all for the
sick, but in a very special way for their families, who in this case did not
have the opportunity to visit their loved ones.”
These families “found in you”, the Pope said to the health
care workers, “almost other family members, capable of combining professional
competence with those attentions that are concrete expressions of love.”
Angels at the side of the sick
Patients, he said, often felt that they had “angels beside
them, who helped them to recover their health and, at the same time, comforted,
supported and sometimes accompanied them to the threshold of the final
encounter with the Lord."
“These health workers, supported by the solicitude of the
hospital chaplains, have witnessed to God's closeness to those who suffer; they
have been silent craftsmen of the culture of closeness and tenderness,” he
said.
And speaking off-the cuff, Pope Francis recalled their care
and creativity in many big and small gestures, such as when they called family
members with their personal cell phones so that the dying could say goodbye to
their loves ones: “This has been good for all of us. This witness of closeness
and tenderness.”
Pillars of the country
Pope Francis told the doctors and nurses present that the
world has seen the work they have done in a situation of great trial: “Even if
exhausted, you have continued to commit yourselves with professionalism and
self-denial. And this generates hope. You have been one of the pillars of the
whole country. To you here present, and to your colleagues throughout Italy, go
my esteem and my sincere thanks, and I know well that I interpret the feelings
of everyone.”
The Pope went on to say that now is the time to treasure all
the positive energy that has been invested. He described it as “a wealth that
in part, certainly, has been lost in the tragedy of the
emergency, but said it can and must bear fruit for the present and future of
Italian society."
Honour the suffering of the sick and dead in building
tomorrow
Noting that the pandemic has deeply marked the lives of
people and the history of communities, the Pope said that the suffering of the
sick and the many dead must be honoured.
He highlighted how the life experiences of the elderly must
not be forgotten and that in building “tomorrow,” the commitment, strength and
dedication of all are required.
Start from love, community, fraternity
It is a question of starting afresh from the countless
testimonies of generous and gratuitous love, Pope Francis said, “which have
left an indelible mark on consciences and on the fabric of society, teaching
how much there is a need for closeness, care and sacrifice to nourish
fraternity and civil coexistence.”
Only in this way, he said, will we be able to emerge
spiritually and morally stronger from this crisis. This, he said, “depends on
the conscience and responsibility of each one of us – not alone, however, but
together and with the grace of God.”
As believers, the Pope pointed out, it is up to us to
testify that God does not abandon us, but gives meaning in Christ also to this
reality and to our limits, and that with His help we can face the hardest
trials.
He said that God created us for communion, for fraternity,
and that now, “more than ever before, the pretension to focus everything on
ourselves, to make individualism the guiding principle of society, has proved
illusory.”
Beware of falling back into past mistakes
“Let us be careful,” the Pope warned, “because, as soon as
the emergency has passed, it is easy to fall back into this illusion. It is
easy to quickly forget that we need others, someone to take care of us, to give
us courage.”
It is easy to forget, he said, “that we all need a Father
who extends His hand to us. To pray to Him, to invoke Him, is not illusion;
illusion is to think of doing without Him! Prayer is the soul of hope.”
Gratitude for priests
Pope Francis concluded his discourse recalling that during
these months, people have not been able to participate in liturgical
celebrations, but they have not stopped feeling community.
“They prayed individually or as a family, including through
the media, spiritually united and feeling that the Lord's embrace went beyond
the limits of space, he said, noting that “the pastoral zeal and creative
solicitude of the priests helped people to continue on the path of faith and
not to remain alone in the face of pain and fear.”
He expressed admiration for the apostolic spirit of “so many
priests, who stood by their people in caring and daily sharing: they were a
sign of God's consoling presence,” and he noted their creativity and maturity
in dealing with the extreme situation of difficultyand suffering.
Unfortunately, Pope Francis said, many have died, and he gave thanks to God for
those who are healed and expressed his gratitude to all the Italian clergy who
have shown courage and love to the people.
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