Posted by
Billy on Friday, April 22, 2011 7:19:40 PM
For the first time in the history of the papacy, Benedict XVI agreed to take
part in a programme in which he took questions from ordinary Catholics.
More than 3,000 questions were submitted after the initiative was announced a
month ago, of which seven were chosen and put to the 84-year-old pontiff.
One of the most moving was put by the parents of a 40 year old man who has
suffered from multiple sclerosis since 1993 and has been in a vegetative state
for the last two years.
Francesco and Maria Teresa Grillo asked Benedict whether the soul of their
son Francesco remained within his body or was elsewhere given his degenerating
mental state.
The Pope, speaking from his office in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican,
told them: "Certainly his soul is still present in his body.
"The situation is a little like a guitar which has had its strings broken and
can no longer be played....the soul cannot be heard but it remains within.
(Pope
talks suffering...
)