Cardinal Semeraro says that Pope Francis’s signature in some decrees shows that he is not dying

The prefect of Dicastery for the causes of the saints, Cardinal Angelo Semeraro, 77, said that the fact that Pope Francis signed on Monday from the hospital several Canonization decrees evidence that “he is not dying.”

“When they warned me that I had signed the decrees I told myself ‘like this, someone can convince you not to die,” said the purple in an interview with the newspaper The Corriere della Sera.

In any case, he made it clear that at this time, in which the 88 -year -old pontiff is receiving antibiotic treatment to tackle bilateral pneumonia that affects both lungs, “there are difficulties, which have to do with health conditions and age.”

“You can’t avoid concerns, but what counts is that Pope’s decisions are there. In this phase, it is not improvising. And the firm of February 24 shows it, ”he emphasized.

Cardinal Semeraro was present, like all those glimpsed of the Roman curia in the prayer of the Holy Rosary that presided by Cardinal Parolin in the Plaza de San Pedro with hundreds of faithful. A gesture of prayer that is repeated every night since Monday.

He explained how Mons. Peña Parra was sitting in front of him and turned towards him looking into his eyes with a big smile while teaching him “the letters signed by the Pope.”

“It was right in front, with the documents in my hand. And I said: “Finally, the date is set: February 24,” he explained.

In addition, although he considered that he does not want to “make things easy,” said his faith in the “inner strength” of Pope Francis “is fundamental.”

“A little joking, I could also say that perhaps all this will serve as a lesson to calm down and take more care of in the future,” he reflected.

After stating that, despite gravity, the Holy Father is governing the Church from the hospital with great “mental lucidity” cited the phrase of the Pontiff when he pointed out that “he governs with his head and not with his legs.”

“At this time we need hope, not depressions. I don’t know what will happen in the future, but if there is something that we should not lose is what the Pope calls’ Christian joy, ”he said too.

Cardinal Semeraro is, in addition to one of the closest collaborators of the Pontiff, his personal friend. They met almost 25 years ago, in September 2001, when the Pontiff was Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires during the X General Assembly of the Synod of the Bishops convened by San Juan Pablo II shortly before the attack against the Twin Towers. The then Archbishop of New York, Edward Egan, had to return urgently to the United States and then Cardinal Bergoglio replaced him.

In 2013, Pope Franciso appointed him secretary of the Cardinals Council that helps him in the government of the Universal Church and then, in 2020, put him in charge of the Dicasterio for the causes of the saints.

The purple also described how Pope Francis takes his days in the room of the tenth floor of the Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital in Rome.

“He wakes up early every morning and dedicates at least two hours to prayer. It means that he has long governed his head. Feeds his days with long moments of meditation and prayer. It is as if he were on a trip. And if sometimes you need help for the physical part, the spiritual part remains the usual, ”he explained.

He said that, despite the disease, the pontiff these days “is giving a great lesson.” “The situation is difficult, yes. But there are signs of hope, ”he also valued.

The decision of the Holy Father to authorize the decrees of five servants of God and Approve the canonization of Venezuelan blessed José Gregorio Hernández and from the Italian Bartolo Longo, only after receiving two of his main collaborators the Secretary of State of the Vatican, Cardinal Pietro Parolin and the substitute for general matters of the Secretary of State, Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, is not usual

Above all, because the normal thing is that the person in charge of these issues is the Sicar Cardinal who is who is in charge of the Dicastery for the causes of the saints and not Cardinal Parolin, or Monsignor Peña Parra.

The Purpurado Italian wanted to clearly explain the reasons to point out that, in reality, it was he who sent the folder to the pontiff with the files of the decrees to sign, through the Secretary of State.

Thus he explained that given the critical health conditions of the Pope, he has been admitted for thirteen days, doctors asked not to receive visits, except exceptions. “I agreed with the Pope that the folder would have sent him through Parolin and Peña Perra,” said Cardinal Semeraro.