Pope Francis died at the age of 88 on Monday (April 21). Just two months before his demise, the Pope has authored a book on February 7 that is scheduled to be published  on April 24.

Advertisment

But, after the demise of the Pope, the Vatican City has released the preface of the book: “Awaiting a New Beginning. Reflections on Old Age.” The book was written in Italian by Cardinal Angelo Scola, Archbishop Emeritus of Milan. The Vatican Publishing House (LEV) has published the book that will be available in bookstores by Thursday (April 24). 

Also read: Four Indian cardinals to vote for next Pope. Who are they?

'A new beginning' 

Advertisment

Pope Francis called death a new beginning in the soon-to-be-available book. He said that death is “not the end of everything”. 

Also read: ‘What did you do?’ JD Vance met Pope Francis just hours before his death, netizens have questions

"Death is not the end of everything, but the beginning of something. It is a new beginning, as the title wisely highlights, because eternal life, which those who love already experience on earth in the occupations of every day, is starting something that will not end,” the Pope said in the book. 

Advertisment

“And it is precisely for this reason that it is a 'new' beginning, because we will experience something that we have never fully experienced: eternity,” he added. 

Also read: Vatican releases photos of Pope Francis in open coffin; funeral to take place on Saturday

‘We must not be afraid of old age’ 

“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,” the Pope wrote in the book. 

Also read: Vatican's secret process for choosing a new pope

“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,” the late Pope Francis wrote.