“I entered the room and had my eyes open. I tried to call it, but did not answer. I gave him a caress.” This is how the Italian surgeon remembers Sergio Alfieri The last moments of Pope Franciswho died Monday morning at his residence in Santa Marta.
In an emotional interview with the Corriere della willthe doctor – who treated him for years and operated it twice – described in detail the farewell of the Argentine pontiffwhom he accompanied during the final process of his life, marked by a long and complex convalescence.
An expected ending: “I knew his time was approaching”
According to Alfieri, Jorge Bergoglio He was aware that his end was approaching. “In recent days, I felt that he wanted to close certain cycles, leave everything in order,” he said. The doctor recalled that it was the Pope’s personal nurse, Massimiliano Strappetti, who alerted him at 5:30 on Monday: “The Holy Father is very bad, we have to take him to the Gemelli.”
However, the transfer never concretized. “When I arrived, twenty minutes later, I already understood that there was nothing to do. I had open eyes, but did not even respond to painful stimuli. I was in a coma,” he described. Shortly after, The Pope died at 7:35 For a stroke that resulted in an irreversible cardiorespiratory collapse, as confirmed by the Vatican.
The will of the Pope: die at home
For Alfieri, respect Francisco de die in your home It was key. “In the Gemelli hospital I always said that I wanted to die at home. It would have been cruel to move it,” he said. The doctor remained by his side next to Strappetti, other nurses and the most intimate circle of the Pope. Cardinal Pietro Parolin asked them to pray a rosary together, in what was a moment of deep recollection.
“That morning I gave him a caress as a last greeting,” confessed the surgeon, visibly moved.
“I’m very good”: his last talk
The last match between Alfieri and Francisco was the previous Saturday, after lunch, on the eve of Easter. “He told me that he felt very good, that he had resumed the work and that he did well. I took a dark pastphrola, as he liked,” he said.
Despite the medical recommendation to do 60 days of restthe Pope decided to return to his activities. He visited the Regina Coeli prison, the Basilica of Santa María la Mayor, and even agreed to greet the crowd in the Plaza de San Pedro on Sunday of Easter.
“Back to work was part of his therapy. He was not exposed to unnecessary dangers,” Alfieri explained. “On Sunday he also agreed to tour the square. And ten days before he asked me to organize a meeting with all who took care of him. I told him that there were more than 70 people, that it was perhaps better to wait. But he replied: ‘I receive them on Wednesday.'”
A farewell with meaning
For the doctor, Francisco felt that a stage should closeas if he knew his time was over. “Today I think he knew. I was determined to do everything I had to do before dying. I feel privileged to have been with him at that time,” said Alfieri.
Francisco’s figure leaves a huge vacuum, but also an indelible legacy. Until the last day, faithful to his mission, he wanted to say goodbye in peace, working and surrounded by those who cared for the most.
Source: Ambito
