A priest with a heart of gold has passed away from coronavirus after giving his respirator to a younger patient.
As it was reported by Italian news outlet Araberara, 72-year-old Casigno-based Giuseppe Berardelli had passed on the respirator given to him by his parishioners to another patient shortly before succumbing to the killer bug.
The great sacrifice went viral after a Jesuit priest James Martin shared the story and paid a tribute to the selfless priest on Twitter.
“He is a ‘Martyr of Charity,’ a saint like St. Maximilian Kolbe, who in Auschwitz volunteered to take the place of a condemned man with a family, and was killed,” Martin said of Berardelli.
“Don Giuseppe Berardelli, patron of those who suffer from coronavirus and all who care for them, pray for us!”
Throughout the outbreak in Italy, over sixty priests have already passed away from COVID-19.
Previously, Pope Francis has urged the priests in Italy “to accompany the medical workers and volunteers in the work they are doing” by going out and attending the sick.
“We pray to God also for our priests, so they have courage to go out to the sick, bringing the strength of the Word of God and the Eucharist,” the Pope said in a Sunday mass.
“To accompany the medical workers and volunteers in the work they are doing.”
After the priest’s sacrifice went viral, people applauded him for giving his respirator to a younger patient and potentially saving his life by giving up on his own.
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