Pope: ‘care for the elderly,
don’t leave them alone’
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| Pope Francis visits the Rome parish of saint Paul of the Cross in the Corviale suburb in April 2018 (Vatican Media) |
Pope Francis calls the parish priest of a community on the
periphery of Rome that he visited in 2018 assuring the faithful there of his
prayers and urging them not to leave the elderly alone during the summer
months.
By Vatican News
It is not surprising that social services and assistance
projects of all sorts pop up at the beginning of summer in Italy in an effort
to accompany the many elderly people left alone in the cities during the hot
months of July and August when families go on holiday and support systems
close.
Pope Francis does not forget those who are alone and in
need, as demonstrated by a personal telephone call to a Rome parish priest of
the suburban “Corviale” area, one of those “geographical peripheries” that is
also very much an “existential periphery” at the heart of his apostolate of
inclusion.
Father Roberto Cassano, the parish priest of Saint Paul of
the Cross Church in the Corviale territory, told Vatican Radio of his surprise
and joy on Wednesday evening when he answered a phone call and immediately
recognized the voice of Pope Francis.
“When the Pope made a pastoral visit to our parish (on 12
April 2018) I told him about how we have set up live-streamed broadcasts to be
close to the community, and I asked him for a blessing,” he said, adding that
he certainly wasn’t expecting that providential call during the last broadcast
before the summer holidays.
The Corviale landscape is sadly renowned to Romans because
of the so-called “Serpentone” (Big Snake) cement agglomerate that winds its way
through the suburb for more than a kilometre. The mega-complex, built in the
1970s, has become the degraded abode of a suffering humanity that includes
elderly people, migrants, families with social problems and many poor people
who cannot afford rent and have illegally occupied apartments and other spaces.
It is to them that Pope Francis’s thoughts and blessings are
directed at a time in which attention is elsewhere.
Father Cassano said he and his fellow priests were trying to
set up the live-streaming, “but nothing was working!” The phone rang, he
continued, and as soon as he realized who was at the other end, he managed to
connect to the platform so everyone could listen.
“It was an emotional moment for all of us,” he said, to know
that the Holy Father still remembers us from the visit he made in 2018. He said
he even remembered a conversation he had with a little boy who had recently
lost his father.
Above all, Father Cassano said, the Pope asked us not to
leave the weakest members of our community alone, especially the elderly.
He then went on to explain that his flock is a very special
one, with many needs and frailties.
“As a parish, we try to be as close as possible to elderly
people who are alone. During the lockdown we telephoned them often to make sure
they were ok and to find out what they needed,” he said.
Through social media, he continued, we celebrated Mass
together and offered spiritual assistance.
“With our live-streamed programmes we tried to keep people
company,” he said.
One thing of the Pope's telephone call that struck him in
particular, Father Cassano concluded, was his plea for prayers: “He repeatedly
asked us to pray for him, and so together with all the other priests, we are
inviting our parishioners to say a prayer every day for our beloved Pope: that
the Lord may sustain him and look after him”.
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