The Italian priest who gave up his respirator and gave it to a younger patient was a friend of overseas Filipino workers, says a Filipino church official.
Bishop Ruperto Santos said he met Fr. Giuseppe Berardelli in Rome during his time as rector of the Pontificio Collegio Filippino (PCF) and as national coordinator for the pastoral care of Filipino migrants in Italy.
“Together, we have established Filipino chaplaincies in Milan, then in Como and Bergamo,” Santos said in a report posted on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) website.
“He was a friend and a father to our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), working hard spiritually and economically for us,” he added.
Berardelli, 72, gave up the respirator that parishioners had bought for him and gave it to a young person.
Santos related that the action of Berardelli is “a powerful lesson of the supreme act of sacrifice.”
The prelate also expressed “deep sorrow and great loss” in the demise of another Italian priest, Dian Giancarlo Quadri, who also worked with migrant workers.
“We have asked our OFWs and chaplains to remember him together with the 66 priests who perished, with God’s mercy and love, granting them eternal rest,” he added.
Italy has been the hardest-hit country in Europe, with deaths due to COVID-19 reaching more than 10,000.
Bishop Santos also said, “Learning what is happening in Italy, let us not forget our OFWs and their loved ones here. We pray for them and help their families.”
