During the height of the COVID pandemic, four siblings from the Mautone family went above and beyond the line of duty to care for those suffering from the virus.
The group traveled from Viterbo to Rome to greet Pope Francis, carrying with them very special cargo: letters written by COVID patients.
POPE FRANCIS
And at the end, we met with Pope Francis in a private audience on September 4, 2020, and he welcomed us and our family, all four of us with the letters representing the tears of the patients and our uniforms representing commitment, the desire to beat this virus.
And from there, the pilgrimage, well, the pilgrimage was born as a gift to Pope Francis for having welcomed us.
From that first meeting, Raffaele Mautone and his siblings began an organization called the Nurse's Path. Every year, during the last weeks of August, the group makes the walking pilgrimage bringing the letters from their patients or from patients' mothers.
Mautone says during the first private audience, Pope Francis expressed his concern for those suffering from the virus. But the Pope also gave the group some words of inspiration and courage.
RAFFAELE MAUTONE
He is the one who gave us strength because when there was COVID at Easter time, Pope Francis did the Stations of the Cross alone in St. Peter's Square. That was one of the strongest messages I have ever seen in my life. Because it made us realize that the Pope was also alone.
He made it clear that each one of us has to move and we mustn't stay at home and hope that this happens or that happens, but we need to act.
Mautone believes that everyone can do their part in serving their neighbor, even with their busy schedules.
The Nurse's Path is about 51 miles. Mautone sees the pilgrimage as a means of giving people the message of hope, something that Pope Francis has repeatedly done throughout his papacy.
KG
