Vatican preacher: Death of the Pope would not be a tragedy

According to Christian doctrine, death is not a catastrophe: The new preacher of the Papal Household, Roberto Pasolini, has reminded the top administration of the Catholic Church gathered in Rome of this. This also applies to the death of a pope.

In a spiritual address on Tuesday morning, Pasolini told numerous curia cardinals, prelates and employees of the Roman Curia: "If he stays with us for a little longer, it will be wonderful for us." Should he die, he said, it should not be spoken of "as if it were a tragedy". He hopes that the subject of eternal life will be a special medicine for Pope Francis in the hours of his trial by illness.

The Roman Curia is currently on its annual Lenten retreat. Pasolini, who belongs to the Capuchin order, is giving impulses twice a day. According to the Vatican, the Pope is following the event from the hospital via video link. The theme of the spiritual reflections is: "The hope of eternal life".

Remembrance of eternal life

In an interview with the "Vatican News" portal published the previous day, Pasolini had said that many people had lost their sense of eternal life and were extremely sensitive to everything that was deeply human. Christians are therefore "called upon to let the quality of eternal life shine forth".

Commenting on the only indirect presence of the Pope at the retreat, Pasolini said that Francis accompanied the retreat in the Vatican with his suffering high up on the tenth floor of the Gemelli Clinic; this meant a kind of testimony: "His testimony is accompanied by all the testimonies of people who silently, in secret, in all parts of the world, experience the same mystery of suffering, but also of evil through wars, violence and death." - The 53-year-old Pasolini has been the official preacher of the Pontifical Household since November. (KNA)