Unknown details about his last wishes, their personal relationship and how the Pope experienced his final days were revealed by Professor Sergio Alfieri, director of surgical oncology at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome and Francis' personal surgeon.
“In January, the Pope told me that we had to take care of the abandoned embryos,” he told Corriere della Sera. “He was absolute: ‘We are talking about life, we cannot allow them to be used for experiments or to be lost. It would be murder.’” He revealed that they were studying with the Ministry of Health a way to proceed with “embryo adoption,” but there was not enough time for the Pope to implement his decision. “My commitment is to make it happen, as long as the conditions are there,” he said, moved.
Alfieri last saw the Pope on Holy Saturday, a few hours before he passed away. “He was fine, he told me so himself. I brought him his favorite tart and we talked,” he said. Despite the recommendations for a 60-day recovery, the Pope had returned to work: “It was part of his treatment. He wanted to complete everything he had in mind. It was as if he had understood that the end was near.”
Ten days earlier, he had asked to meet with everyone who had cared for him in Gemelli. “I told him to do it after Easter. His answer was: ‘Wednesday,’” Alfieri recalls, adding: “I had a clear feeling that he wanted to complete a series of things before he died.”
The last moments
At dawn on Easter Monday, the Pope's condition deteriorated seriously. His personal assistant called Alfieri: "I went immediately to Santa Marta. I found him with his eyes open but in a coma, unresponsive to stimuli. There was nothing to be done. He was already at the end." His transfer to the hospital was considered dangerous and unnecessary. "He always said he wanted to die at home. And that's how it happened."
The Pope passed away a few minutes later. Alfieri remained at his side along with the medical and personal staff, while Cardinal Parolin invited them all to pray together and they recited the rosary.
A relationship of the heart
Alfieri met the Pope in 2018. In 2021, when he presented with severe symptoms of diverticulitis, he personally chose him for the operation. “I had the most experience in Italy in such operations. He called me and said: ‘I have decided to have surgery and I have chosen you.’”
The operation was organized in secret. The Pope asked to arrive in Gemelli without anyone knowing. “If it leaks, the operation will not be done,” he had warned. And he reveals: “Just before the operation, he blessed my hands. It was a personal message: ‘Use your hands with your heart.’”
The Pope had also asked for Alfieri's help to save the Catholic hospital "Fatebenefratelli", which had almost been sold. Through his own intervention, the necessary funds were secured, with the contribution of Cardinal Ciuppi and the businessman Del Vecchio.
Francis returned to Tzemeli for the second operation. “He wanted to send a message about public health and the role of Catholic hospitals,” says his doctor.
Alfieri, although primarily an oncologist, intends to continue the effort to protect embryos, in collaboration with Health Minister Orazio Schillaci and, if possible, with the Vatican itself. "It was the Pope's wish. We will do it, if we can," he says.
Source: protothema.gr
