Pope conferred honorary citizenship of Italian town

(March 18, 2010) Pope Benedict XVI was conferred the honorary citizenship of the Italian municipality of Romano Canavese on Wednesday. Receiving the honour from the municipality dignitaries and officials at a ceremony in the Vatican, the Pope encouraged its citizens to continue in their long history of faith, never losing trust in God. He expressed particular satisfaction on becoming a citizen of Romano Canavese because he said it was birth place of Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. Romano Canavese is a town of about 2,900 people, some 40 kms northeast of the northern Italian industrial city of Turin. Pope Benedict had visited Cardianl Bertone’s home town last July during his holiday at the alpine resort of Les Combes. The Holy Father invited the citizens of Canavese to guard and cultivate the genuine values of their tradition and culture, which are rooted in the Gospel. He particularly encouraged them to witness to faith in the Lord, defence of the family and a spirit of solidarity.