Unpublished Francis text reflected on ageing and dying

Pope Francis had written the preface to a book in Italian by Cardinal Angelo Scola titled Awaiting a New Beginning: Reflections on Old Age. The book is scheduled to be available on April 24.

“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,” wrote Francis.

In the late Holy Father’s preface to Cardinal Scola’s book, he expressed gratitude to the former Archbishop of Milan for seeking to restore pride in ageing, which he said is “too often considered unhealthy”.

The problem, Francis asserted, is not that people grow old, but how they grow old. For old age to become a time “truly fruitful and capable of radiating goodness”, Francis stressed that it must be lived “as a grace, and not with resentment”, and accepted “with a sense of gratitude and thankfulness” in spite of suffering. 

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

Cardinal Scola’s writing, he said, “born from thought and affection”, bring the prospect of ageing and death to bear in the context of Christianity, which he said “is not so much an intellectual or a moral choice, but rather the affection for a person – that Christ who came to meet us and decided to call us friends”.

Ultimately, Francis wrote, “it is precisely the conclusion of these pages by Angelo Scola, a heartfelt confession of how he is preparing himself for the final encounter with Jesus, that gives us a consoling certainty: Death is not the end of everything but the beginning of something”. 

“It is a new beginning, as the [book’s] title wisely highlights, because eternal life, which those who love already begin to experience on earth within the daily tasks of life – is beginning something that will never end.”

“And it is precisely for this reason that it is a ‘new’ beginning, because we will live something we have never fully lived before: eternity,” the Pope wrote.

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Vatican releases late Pope’s reflection on aging and dying (By Madalaine Elhabbal/CNA)