Pope's visit to quake victims
may not include Mass
Translated from
ROME, April 17 - Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the Abruzzo will be a short one and will very likely not include a Mass because this would involve problems of getting victims together into one place from their various temporary encampments.
It was learned that he would arrive by helicopter at the Finance Guard school near L'Aquila, where the funeral Mass for the earthquake dead was held on Good Friday.
There, he will meet with civil and religious authorities, and with volunteer worker representatives. He will then proceed to one of the tent cities to visit with those who are now homeless.
However, it is already being speculated that the Pope could return eventually to say the inaugural Mass at the Cathedral of L'Aquila after it is rebuilt.
All this, while the date for the first visit still has to be firmed up. May 1 appears to be the target date, even in the face of a threatened general strike by labor unions on that day (Labor Day).
May 6 has been mentioned as a possibility, being the first month anniversary of the earthquake, but it is too near the Pope's departure date for the Holy Land, so it is less likely.
A definite date will depend on the assessment by the Italian commissioner for the emergency, Guido Bertolano, who is aware that the Pope has publicly said he wishes to be able to visit L'Aquila 'as soon as possible'.
Bertolano has to determine when the conditions of security, safety [from possible aftershocks], and on-site convenience are appropriate for the Pope.
Sources at the archdiocesan Curia of L'Aquila said that a few weeks before the earthquake, the diocese was considering inviting Benedict XVI to visit L'Aquila in August 2010 for the closing of the Celestinian Year, marking the eighth centenary of the birth of Pope Celestine V, L'Aquila's most eminent citizen.
In the meantime, both the Italian Church and the Vatican have been very supportive of the earthquake victims. The Italian bishops' conference has given an initial donation of 5 million euros in aid, and has pledged collections at next Sunday's Masses all over Italy for the same purpose, in addition to collections taken up by various private organizations.
The Vatican immediately sent a squad from its fire department to help in initial rescue work after the first tremor. The Vatican Museums have offered to take temporary custody of all artworks recovered or rescued from the ruins of the many churches and historical edifices destroyed in the earthquake.
And on Maundy Thursday, the Pope consecrated sacramental oils and Chrism specially for the stricken diocese of L'Aquila and donated the chalice used at the funeral Mass as a token of his spiritual closeness to the victims.
Most of all, before Easter, the Pope sent a cash donation to the Archbishop of L'Aquila, Mons. Giuseppe Molinari, to be given to needy victims who need some money to tide them over the emergency until they can be resettled.
Don Claudio Tracanna, spokesman for the diocese, that a gesture that really meant very much to the diocese was the Pope sending his personal secretary, Mon. Georg Gaenswein, to represent him at the funeral Mass.
"It was something so completely novel," he said, "beyond any protocol. As was the personal message that the Pope sent for the Mass, which was read by his personal representative and not by the Secretary of State [who presided at the concelebrated Mass]."
He said that when Mons. Gaenswein was boarding the helicopter to return to Rome, he noticed that Bishop Molinari was not wearing a wristwatch, which he had lost during the earthquake. Whereupon, he took off his wristwatch and gave it to the Archbishop.