The official media of the Holy See, Vatican News, collected on Tuesday, April 22, these words that the first Latin American Pontiff told his faithful personal nurse, Massimiliano Strappeti, on Easter Sunday.
After the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” blessing from the balcony of the Basilica of San Pedro, Francisco made an unexpected walk on board the papal vehicle among the thousands of faithful gathered to celebrate Easter.
But before doing so, he asked his nurse: “Do you think I can do it?” Strappetti reassured him and the Pope toured the square for almost 15 minutes, blessing in his path to the babies present.
According to Vatican News, the Argentine Jesuit rested during the afternoon in his department of the residence of Santa Marta in the Vatican, before dinner quietly.
But on Monday, the first symptoms of a discomfort appeared at dawn. More than an hour later, after greeting his nurse, he entered a coma and died at 7.35 local time.
“He did not suffer, everything happened quickly, say those who were by his side in those last moments,” Vatican News on the basis of the testimony of the people present.
“A discreet, almost sudden death, without long waiting or too much clamor for a Pope who had always maintained his health in great secret,” adds the official medium.
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The funeral of Jorge Mario Bergoglio will take place on Saturday in the presence of a multitude of faithful and foreign leaders, before the call of a conclave to choose his successor.