Gualtiero Bassetti, the positive Covid cardinal in intensive care – Corriere.it

The cardinal Gualtiero BassettiThe 78-year-old was transferred to intensive care unit 2 of the Santa Maria della Misericordia hospital in Perugia. The conditions of the president of the CEI, who tested positive for Covid last week, worsened on Monday, on the third day in the room reserved for Coronavirus patients. The transfer took place during the night, after a change in vital parameters, reported the vigilant and collaborating cardinal, the CEI. First a cold, then a fever that forced him to lie down for a few days, isolated in his Curia apartment, and finally hospitalization last Saturday: bilateral pneumonia with respiratory failure requiring high oxygen flows, the vigilant and spontaneous cardinal, the hospital had made it known. Precisely today the extraordinary permanent council of the CEI is being held via videoconference, which accompanies the cardinal president with closeness, affection and prayer, the bishops write: We assure him of support for him and all the sick and we thank the doctors, health agents and all those who deal with suffering.

May the comfort and presence of the Holy Spirit sustain those who today are sorely tried by disease. The Risen Lord does not lose his reassuring presence. I live this moment with faith and hope, giving myself to the mercy of the Father. I thank all those who have approached with messages of solidarity and prayer, the cardinal wrote when he was admitted. I offer this test to all the sick, those who suffer, people who have experienced bereavement, doctors and health workers who provide help with dedication and care, the representatives of institutions committed to curbing this virus. A special thought to our brother bishops, priests, men and women religious, laity who have not stopped giving testimony of the beautiful and creative face of our Churches.

And he concluded: a moment of pain for many. Together we are trapped in a vice that seems to crush our securities. In recent months I have had the opportunity to share the weariness and weariness of an unprecedented time that is affecting all of humanity. However, despite everything, the beauty of the Mystery that becomes a gift continues to operate. Even when everything seems to be over there’s a ray of light that keeps showing the way. There is a voice that questions and proposes itself as a way to avoid loneliness and despair. We live a path unknown to some generations: an opportunity to feel and be brothers reconciled in the God of life.