72-YEAR-OLD ITALIAN PRIEST WHO GAVE HIS VENTILATOR TO YOUNGER PATIENT DIES OF CORONAVIRUS
BY
AILA SLISCO ON 3/23/20 AT 11:44 PM EDT
An elderly Catholic priest reportedly died from the COVID-19 coronavirus after refusing a ventilator so that a younger patient could use it instead.
Don Giuseppe Berardelli, 72, died March 15 at a hospital in Lovere, Italy after declining to use the medical equipment that his parishioners were said to have bought for him. Berardelli was a beloved figure well known for helping those with financial problems, as well as for riding on a motorcycle, according to Italian paper
Araberara. He was praised on English language social media on Monday after news of his apparent sacrifice began to surface.
"He is a 'Martyr of Charity,' a saint like St. Maximilian Kolbe, who in Auschwitz volunteered to take the place of a condemned man with a family, and was killed," prominent Jesuit priest James Martin tweeted. "Don Giuseppe Berardelli, patron of those who suffer from coronavirus and all who care for them, pray for us!"