Speaking to the Italian press, Dr. Sergio Alfieri, one of Pope Francis' doctors until his death, spoke about the circumstances surrounding the Argentine pontiff's death on Monday at 7:35 a.m.
“The Holy Father is very ill. We must return to Gemelli.” On Monday at 5:30 a.m., Dr. Sergio Alfieri was awakened by a phone call from the Vatican. On the other end of the line was Massimiliano Strappeti, the Pontiff's personal nurse, who had been watching over him until the end.
A few minutes earlier, according to La Repubblica, the Pope had woken up for a glass of water.
“He turned on his side and the nurse noticed that something was wrong,” explained Dr. Alfieri.
Arriving about 20 minutes later to the Santa Marta residence in the Vatican, the doctor found Pope Francis with his “eyes open.”
“I ascertained that he had no breathing problems,” the man who coordinated the medical team that surrounded the Pope at the Gemelli Polyclinic in February and March told Corriere dalla Sera.
“I tried to speak to him, but he didn't answer; he didn't respond to stimuli, not even painful ones,” the Italian doctor explained.
The Pope had just fallen into a coma. "There was nothing more we could do," Dr. Alfieri said.
Without suffering
He told La Repubblica: “His pulse was slowing and his breathing was becoming increasingly shallow. He died without suffering, and at home.”
The question of taking the Pope to the hospital had been ruled out. On the one hand, the doctor said, “we risked killing him during transport.” On the other hand, the Pope had made it known that he wanted to “die at home.” Francis had also asked not to be intubated.
After his death, among those who arrived at Francis' apartment, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, suggested reciting a rosary around the deceased pope.
The Pope felt the need to accomplish things before he died
The Pope's doctor told Italian newspapers that Francis still felt “very well” on Holy Saturday. “I've started working again, I'm fine,” the Pope told him on the eve of Easter Sunday.
Dr. Alfieri had prescribed two months of convalescence for the pontiff after his return to the Vatican on March 23. Francis had resumed just some of his activities.
“He is the pope. Returning to work was part of his therapy. He never exposed himself to danger,” the doctor said, adding in the Corriere: “Today, I have the distinct feeling that he felt the need to do a number of things before he died.”
A few days before his death, the Pope had visited St. Mary Major to pray; this is the church where he will be buried.
He had also made a few impromptu visits to St. Peter's Basilica, including one visit to pray at the tomb of St. Pius X.
On Holy Thursday, April 17, four days before his death, he went to the Regina Coeli prison in Rome to meet with 70 inmates and celebrate the Mass of the Lord's Supper.
Dr. Alfieri told La Repubblica that in their last conversation, Pope Francis had told him how sorry he was “not to have washed the prisoners' feet: This time, I didn't manage to do it.”
