“Pope Francis is going to live to 140 years,” says the Chinese doctor For years, Liu Ming who treated the then Cardinal Bergoglio
In its October 2013 issue of the magazine TAO (Argentina) features a photo of Cardinal Bergoglio with a Taoist monk on its front cover. A headline explains the photo: “Liu Ming, the Eastern physician of Pope Francis.” Ming is a 45-year-old Taoist monk who moved from China to Argentina 10 years ago. He took care of Card. Jorge Bergoglio’s health problems for the eight years before he was elected Pope.
The Cardinal used to have many health problems. He was diabetic, had gallbladder surgery and constant problems of the liver. Further, he had lung surgery and serious heart problems. A team of physicians who examined him prescribed a heart surgery as soon as possible. In this critical situation, he heard about the Taoist monk Liu Ming through a priest who was one of his clients. Jorge called Ming and said: “I would like to schedule some medical consultations.” Ming went to see him at the Cathedral and, shortly, the Taoist was going there three times a week. This was in 2004. Gradually, fewer visits were required. At the end of three years, Ming was seeing Bergoglio only every three weeks.
– How was Bergoglio as a patient?Super-quiet. ! A very spiritual person. For me it was an honor to meet a cardinal who is a person with great nobility, with a high rank but despite all that, did not care what he looked outside but the inside.
– Did he ever make any recommendations to you regarding our culture?He asked me if I was familiar with San Lorenzo [NOTE: The soccer team!]. I don’t even have a television (laughs). Yes, he talked to me about Argentinian beef. Oh! It’s not like the beef in China, here you don’t even need to add salt. He made another suggestion: the name of my daughter.
– Did Bergoglio give your daughter her name?
Yes. Her name is María Guadalupe.
– Did you have conversations about Eastern philosophy? Was he interested?
Yes, we exchanged books. For example he gave me the “Book of I Ching” in Spanish. I use it to teach courses in Buenos Aires. He gave me the Bible and a book called Reasons to Believe.
– Did you have any kind of disagreements?
No. This world had a religious origin and life cannot exist without religion, otherwise we would be just animals. Since I am a Taoist monk I spoke to him a great deal about the Tao, which in China is the only truth. In your culture, it is called God and in China it is called the Tao. It’s the same. It is the same truth. He listened to me very attentively.
The treatment consisted in sessions of acupuncture and massages following the methods of Taoist medicine. Ming explains: “I always say that with Chinese medicine you can live 140 years. We have two worlds: the external and the internal. Traditional medicine looks at the external but fails to consider that we have the solutions for everything in our own body. And this is the interior world.”
The monk applied his Taoist knowledge to Bergoglio, who was cured of his heart problem and all the illnesses he had. He stopped taking all his medicines and today stays healthy by applying what he learned from this monk. Regarding the spectacular cure of Bergoglio’s heart, Ming explains: “It was in 2005, when a new election for pope was coming. The doctors wanted him to have surgery, but he did not want it. By means of my treatment, his blood started to circulate better in the arteries – which were obstructed. All I did was to re-direct the body’s energy. After that, he [Bergoglio] had full confidence in me. His doctors, all proud, became a little resentful except for one lady doctor who came here to learn Chinese medicine with me.”
Ming stated that Pope Francis had telephoned him from the Vatican on September 8, 2013: “Doctor Liu Ming? Doctor Liu Ming? Jorge is speaking. Pope Francis…” Knowing that Ming was planning to travel to China, Francis asked him to stop on the way to see him at the Vatican. And he did!
