Pope Francis thanks the sick and elderly priests for having announced the Gospel of life

Pope Francis thanked the sick and elderly priests for their silent testimony of Gospel Thursday in a message that transmitted the sanctifying value of fragility and suffering.

“It is above all to you, dear confreres, who live old age or the bitter hour of illness, that I feel the need to say thank you. Thank you for the testimony of the faithful love of God and the Church. Thank you for the silent proclamation of the Gospel of life ”, wrote Pope Francis in a message published on 17 September.

“For our priestly life, frailty can be 'like the fire of a refiner or a lye' (Malachi 3: 2) which, by elevating us to God, refines and sanctifies us. We are not afraid of suffering: the Lord carries the cross with us! The pope said.

His words were addressed to a gathering of elderly and sick priests on September 17 at a Marian shrine in Lombardy, the Italian region most affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

In his message, Pope Francis recalled that during the most difficult period of the pandemic - "full of deafening silence and a desolate emptiness" - many people looked up to heaven.

“Over the past few months, we've all experienced restrictions. The days, spent in a limited space, seemed interminable and always the same. We lacked the affections and the closest friends. The fear of contagion reminded us of our precariousness, ”he said.

“Basically, we have experienced what some of you, as well as many other elderly people, experience every day,” the Pope added.

The elderly priests and their bishops met at the Sanctuary of Santa Maria del Fonte in Caravaggio, a small town in the province of Bergamo where in March 2020 the number of deaths was six times higher than that of the previous year due to the pandemic of coronavirus.

In the diocese of Bergamo at least 25 diocesan priests have died after contracting COVID-19 this year.

The gathering in honor of the elderly is an annual event organized by the Lombard Episcopal Conference. It is now in its sixth year, but this autumn takes on further significance in light of the increased suffering experienced in this region of northern Italy, where thousands of people have died amid an eight-week ban on funerals and other liturgical celebrations.

Pope Francis, who himself is 83, said that this year's experience was a reminder "not to waste the time we are given" and to the beauty of personal encounters.

“Dear brothers, I entrust each of you to the Virgin Mary. To her, Mother of priests, I remember in prayer the many priests who died from this virus and those who are going through the healing process. I send you my blessing from the heart. And please don't forget to pray for me, ”he said