The Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, reported directly: "In the afternoon of September 13, I had the joy and the happiness of meeting my beloved brother Fr Tom, now in the Salesian community at the Vatican. I greeted him in the Indian style, and we gave each other a strong hug as a sign of fraternal affection.
He is still thin, but I found him serene, lucid and with a great inner peace. He expressed his deep thanks to the Lord and to the Congregation, for he felt strongly accompanied by the Salesian Family who prayed for him, along with the religious of other congregations.
I was deeply impressed in learning that he celebrated the Eucharist every day, even without bread and wine, offering the Lord what he was going through.
He lived many simple things as a gift of God, like sleeping serenely and living every moment in peace. At the beginning of each new day he continued to pray, speaking with the Lord, offering himself for everyone, for the Church, for the young.
Truly, Fr Tom gave me a testimony of faith that has touched me. We prayed in the Chapel of the Salesian Community and I gave him the blessing of Mary Help of Christians. I offered the 'good night' and said to him that with my presence were all his Salesian confreres and the Salesian Family across the globe.
I said him that if he would allow me, I wished to offer him the Salesian Cross I always bring with me. I handed it to him with affection, and he received it with deep gratitude, and we the sang the 'Hail, Holy Queen' to our common Mother.
We also shared a very simple dinner. I found that he weighs little, eats slowly but is eating well. The doctors said he was weak, but that it would just be a matter of time and rest and he would be well. It was a moment of great fraternity.
It was a special day, indeed, marked by Fr Tom's meeting with the Holy Father, who received him with the affection of a father, with the simplicity that characterizes him.” and the affection he has for us all."
