Coronavirus: Italian Priest Dies After Offering Respirator To Younger Patient

An Italian priest in Casnigo, Giuseppe Berardelli, who offered his respirator to a younger patient suffering from coronavirus, has died.

The news was shared on Twitter by an editor at Americamag, a US-based magazine, stating that the priest, gave his respirator, equipment used to support respiration, to the young man who was a stranger.

The tweet stated, "Fr. Giuseppe Berardelli, a 72-year-old priest who gave a respirator (that his parishioners had purchased for him), to a younger patient (whom he did not know), has died from #coronavirus.

“Greater love has no person…”

According to Araberara, an Italian print, the priest died in a hospital in Lovere, Bergamo, which is one of the cities worst-hit by the pandemic in the country.

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The newspaper quoted one of the workers at the hospital as saying, “I am deeply moved by the fact that the archpriest of Casnigo, Don Giuseppe Berardelli – to whom the parish community had bought a respirator – has renounced his will to assign it to someone younger than him.”

The Mayor of the city of Fiorano, Clara Poli, characterized the priest as a good listener, giving his ear to anyone who needed him.

“He knew how to listen, whoever turned to him knew that he could count on his help,” Clara said.