A Catholic priest in Italy went to his eternal rest after sacrificing his ventilator to a young person in need. The priest, age 72, had previously tested positive for COVID-19, a virus that has ravaged the northern part of Italy, overwhelming the region’s healthcare system.
According to the Italian news site TgCom24, Don Giusseppe Berardelli renounced the ventilator that parishioners “had purchased just for him” to ostensibly save the life of a stranger whom he “didn’t even know.”
“He died after testing positive for coronavirus, but also because he chose to sacrifice himself for another person,” the site reported. “Don Giuseppe Berardelli, a 72-year-old priest from Casnigo (Bergamo), renounced the respirator he needed and that his parish community had purchased just for him. And he did it so that respirator could go to someone else. Someone younger, but ill like him. Someone who didn’t even know.”
Speaking with the Italian magazine Araberara, a health worker from the San Giuseppe retirement home said that they were deeply moved by Don Giuseppe’s show of Christian faith.
“Don Giuseppe died as a priest. And I am deeply moved by the fact that he, archpriest of Casnigo, gave up his will to assign him to someone younger than he,” the worker said.
Giuseppe Imberti, the longtime mayor of Casnigo, described him as a man of “great kindness and helpfulness” who faithfully served his community.
“He was a simple, straightforward person, with a great kindness and helpfulness towards everyone, believers and non-believers,” said the mayor. “His greeting was ‘peace and good.’ Always friendly and available to the public administration, associations and not only those of the parish.”
“He was loved by everyone, his former parishioners still came from Fiorano after years to find him,” the mayor continued. “But he also had an incredible ability to solve economic problems, to knock on the right doors for help … An archpriest loved by all.”
Clara Poli, the mayor of Fiorano, where Don Giuseppe previously served as pastor, described him as a “priest who listened to everyone” and who “loved his motorbike.”
“He was a priest who listened to everyone, he knew how to listen, whoever turned to him knew that he could count on his help,” said Poli. “A great person. I remember him on his old Guzzi motorbike, he loved his motorbike, and when you saw him go by he was always cheerful and full of enthusiasm, he gave peace and joy to our communities.”
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According to Catholic Herald, as many 60 priests have died in Italy from the COVID-19 pandemic, most of them over 70 and with underlying health conditions. Bishop Gianni Ambrosio of Piacenza-Bobbio told the Italian publication Avvenire that Italy must face this “darkness” with strength and resolve.
“I pray to the Holy Spirit to give us the gift of light and strength. Everyday I do the Via Crucis asking the Lord … to carry this cross with us,” he said. “It is a tough trial. We are dismayed. We feel great suffering. It is a darkness that we must face, but with the hope that God never abandons us, that he himself has gone through all the suffering to overcome it.”
