The Covid-19 disease caused by the corona virus causes hundreds of deaths in Italy every day, and the situation in the country is desperate. The health system is completely overwhelmed with the number of seriously ill people, doctors have to decide which patients they prefer to treat because there are not enough ventilators for everyone.
In this situation, a Catholic priest is celebrated as a hero and even a "martyr". He gave up his life to save someone else's. Giuseppe Berardelli from the small community of Casnigo in the province of Bergamo died of Covid-19 last week at the age of 72. Previously, he had refused a ventilator so that a younger patient could receive life-saving treatment, reports local magazine Araberara, citing reports from hospital staff.
Corona virus in Italy: priest sacrifices his life
A few days later, Berardelli, who had suffered from heart problems in recent years, passed away. Given the strict curfew in Italy, there was no funeral for him. However, "Arabera" reports that people in the city applauded from their balconies when his body was removed from the hospital.
The priest was highly regarded, not only because of the sacrifice Berardelli made and which ultimately cost him his life. "He was an honest and simple person, friendly and helpful to everyone, believers as well as non-believers," said Giuseppe Imberti, the mayor of the community in which Berardelli lived.
Faithful Catholics compare Berardelli's sacrifice to that of the Franciscan monk Maximilian Kolbe in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Kolbe died in 1941 when he went to the hunger bunker instead of a fellow inmate. He was later canonized by the Vatican as a martyr. Berardelli's death also moved people beyond the borders of Italy. The Jesuit priest James Martin, who is prominent in the United States, quoted a sentence from the Bible on Twitter: "Nobody has greater love than that that he gives his life for his friends."
Swell: "Araberara" / James Martin on Twitter
This article was originally published on stern.de.