Valentina di Giorgio

(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 04.08.2022).- “A nurse saved my life, a man of much experience. It’s the second time in my life that a nurse saved my life. The first was in the year ’57.” The second nurse that Pope Francis referred to, in an interview with Spain’s COPE chain, is the person that on Thursday, August 4, the Holy Father appointed as his “Personal Health Assistant.” 

The news was published by the Holy See Press Office on Thursday itself. The name of the Pope’s Health Assistant is Massimiliano Strappetti, 52, who, to date, worked as Coordinator of the Vatican’s Health and Hygiene Department. According to the Holy Father, it’s due to him that in July of 2021, the Pontiff was opportunely intervened with a colon operation. 

Strappetti had already worked with other Popes, specifically with Saint John Paul II and Benedict XVI, although not in such a specific position. Now he is added to the Pope’s Personal Health Team, a team that includes internist Dr Roberto Bernabei, specialized in geriatrics. Both accompanied the Holy Father on his recent trip to Canada. 

In the past, friars were the Popes’ nurses. It’s not known, in fact, that their mission inside the Vatican has ceased. Although for this moment things speak for themselves.  

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