Interview: Pope Pius XIII Meets Dr. Joel Wallach on the Mystery of Parkinsonโs
Scene:
Vatican Gardens at dawn. The marble statues glisten with morning dew. Pope Pius XIII, in a white cassock, sits beneath an olive tree. Across from him sits Dr. Joel Wallach, holding a notepad covered in mineral charts.
Pope Pius XIII:
Dr. Wallach, our world prays for healing. Millions suffer from Parkinsonโs, and yet, I feel the Church prays in ignorance of natureโs hidden laws. Tell meโwhat is this disease in the light of your understanding?
Dr. Wallach:
Your Holiness, Parkinsonโs isnโt a mysteryโitโs a nutritional deficiency disease, not a punishment from God or bad genes. The brain needs raw materials: trace minerals, amino acids, essential fatty acids. When those are missing, the brainโs dopamine-producing cells falter. The tremor is the body crying out for nutrition.
Pope Pius XIII:
You speak as though manโs fall from health began not in Eden, but in the supermarket.
Dr. Wallach (smiling):
Thatโs one way to put it, Your Holiness. Our soils are depleted. Food is processed and sterilized. I tell my patients: you canโt get all 90 essential nutrients from the grocery store anymore. Parkinsonโs, like many neurological conditions, reflects decades of nutritional bankruptcy.
Pope Pius XIII:
And yet, science tells us there is no cure. The faithful are told to take pills, not minerals.
Dr. Wallach:
Thatโs the tragedy. We treat symptoms, not causes. But Iโve seen patients regain stability, speech, and calm after months of proper nutrition. Selenium, for instanceโmost people are deficient. Itโs vital for brain detoxification and protecting neurons from oxidative stress. Vitamin E, B-complex, omega-3sโtheyโre the tools the Creator gave us.
Pope Pius XIII:
You speak of creation as a laboratory of redemption. But tell me, Doctorโhow does oneโs soul affect this? Does despair worsen disease?
Dr. Wallach:
Absolutely. The nervous system thrives on hope, on positive electrical energy. Fear, anger, guiltโthey consume minerals. Faith can be biochemical, too. Iโve seen people healed faster when they believe recovery is possible.
Pope Pius XIII (leaning forward):
So faith, in your eyes, is a cofactor of healingโlike selenium in the soul.
Dr. Wallach (grinning):
Exactly. Faith is the selenium of the spirit.
Pope Pius XIII:
Then perhaps medicine and theology are not so far apart. The Church must teach that to destroy oneโs body through neglect is as grave a sin as harming anotherโs soul.
Dr. Wallach:
And the doctors must rememberโtheyโre not gods. Weโre stewards. The cure is already designed into nature; our duty is to rediscover it.
Pope Pius XIII:
Amen, Doctor. May your minerals preach louder than sermons.