His Holiness Pope Francis: Death is not end of everything, but a new beginning

We publish the preface that the late Pope Francis wrote on February 7 for the book in Italian by Cardinal Angelo Scola, Archbishop Emeritus of Milan, titled “Awaiting a New Beginning. Reflections on Old Age.” The volume, published by the Vatican Publishing House (LEV), will be available in bookstores starting Thursday, April 24.

By Pope Francis

I read with emotion these pages born from the thought and affection of Angelo Scola, dear brother in the episcopate and a person who has held delicate roles in the Church, such as having been rector of the Pontifical Lateran University, later Patriarch of Venice, and Archbishop of Milan.

First of all, I want to express my deep gratitude to him for this reflection that combines personal experience and cultural sensitivity in a way I have rarely encountered. One — experience — enlightens the other — culture; the second gives substance to the first. In this happy interweaving, life and culture blossom with beauty.

Let not the short form of this book be deceptive: these are very dense pages, to read and reread. From Angelo Scola’s reflections I gather some particularly resonant points with what my own experience has taught me. Angelo Scola speaks to us of old age, his old age, which he writes about with a disarmingly intimate touch: “it came upon me with sudden acceleration and in many ways unexpectedly.”

Already in his choice of the word with which he defines himself as “old;”  I find a resonance with the author. Yes, we must not be afraid of old age, we must not fear embracing becoming old, because life is life, and sugarcoating reality means betraying the truth of things. Restoring pride to a term too often considered unhealthy is a gesture for which we should be grateful to Cardinal Scola.

Because to say “old” does not mean “to be discarded,” as a degraded culture of waste sometimes leads us to think. Saying “old” instead means saying experience, wisdom, knowledge, discernment, thoughtfulness, listening, slowness… Values of which we are in great need!

It is true, one becomes old, but this is not the problem: the problem is how one becomes old. If we live this time of life as a grace, and not with resentment; if we accept the time (even a long one) in which we experience diminished strength, the increasing fatigue of the body, the reflexes no longer what they were in our youth — with a sense of gratitude and thankfulness — well then, old age too becomes an age of life which, as Romano Guardini taught us, is truly fruitful and capable of radiating goodness.

Angelo Scola highlights the human and social value of grandparents. I have often emphasized how the role of grandparents is of fundamental importance for the balanced development of the young, and ultimately for a more peaceful society. Because their example, their words, their wisdom can instill in the young a far-sighted vision, the memory of the past, and the anchoring in values that endure.

Amid the frenzy of our societies, often devoted to the ephemeral and the unhealthy taste for appearances, the wisdom of grandparents becomes a shining beacon, shedding light on uncertainty and providing direction to grandchildren, who can draw from their experience something “extra” for their daily lives…

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