c. 1996 Religion News Service
ROME _ Pope John Paul II wasn’t the only high-profile man of the cloth who roamed the Dolomite Mountains in summer for rejuvenation. For years, the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin spent parts of July trooping through the northern Italian countryside where his parents were born and his extended family still lives.”I don’t know exactly how many cousins there are _ 14, 15, or 20,”said the Rev. Giampiero Simion, who is among them and lives in the small village of Primiero. No doubt, he said, they were all in mourning Thursday (Nov. 14) upon hearing the news that Bernardin had died _ ironically on the same day Bernardin’s mother turned 92. Maria Bernardin, resides at a Chicago nursing home operated by the Little Sisters of the Poor.”I spoke with him a few days ago. He was tranquil but said it was getting worse,”Simion recounted in an interview.”He gave beautiful testimony to life,”said Simion, who recalled Bernardin’s enjoyment in walking in the forested hills and holding court at the local bar every morning where he had cup of cappuccino.”When he came he was like family. Everyone knew him. He was simple and enjoyed talking to the people,”Simion said.
At the Vatican, Pope John Paul II said he felt”great sadness”over Bernardin’s death and praised the cardinal for his devotion and strength in the face of cancer.”I am confident that the example of the cardinal’s devoted service as priest … as well as his witness of dignity and hope in the face of the mystery of suffering and death will inspire all who knew him to ever greater fidelity to Christ and the Gospel of our redemption,”said the pope, who telephoned Bernardin hours before he died early Thursday morning.
Last April the small Catholic weekly newspaper Vita Trentina, (Trentino Life) published a four-page spread on Bernardin, in which he was interviewed extensively about his philosophy and his illness.
And last August, upon learning that his cancer had worsened, Bernardin phoned Simion to tell him of the bad news.”Hello, Piero, it’s Joe,”he said on his cousin’s answering machine, according to a transcript that was translated into Italian and printed in the newspaper last month.”I received brutal news two days ago. The cancer has returned, this time to the liver, and it is terminal. I have one year to live, or less, but I am tranquil, at peace. I will live every day that comes with serenity. I ask for many prayers.” The newspaper also published a letter that Bernardin had written to his diocese on Aug. 30 in which he explained his views on life and the challenge of overcoming the fear of death.”When I first learned of my illness, humanly speaking, I had some difficult days,”he wrote.”But I can say in all sincerity that I am at peace. I consider this event a special gift that God has given me in this moment of my life.”We can look at death as an enemy or a friend,”he wrote.”If we see it as an enemy, death scares us. But if we see it as a friend, our actions are completely different. As a man of faith I see death as a friend, as a passage from earthly to eternal life.”
MJP END HEILBRONNER
