Pope Benedict XVIth’s apostolic visit to North East Italy
(May 07, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI arrived by plane at the airport of “Friuli-Venezia Giulia” in North East Italy, Saturday afternoon, to begin his 22nd apostolic visit in Italy. It had been only a 45-minute flight from Rome. The Pope was welcomed by a committee headed by His Eminence Angelo Scola, Cardinal Patriarch of Venice. From the airport a Popemobile took him the 18 kms to Aquileia –the longest distance in such a vehicle so far. In his discourse to the people of Aquileia, the Pope recalled the rise of the city in the height of the Roman Empire, becoming its ninth city and the fourth in Italy. More glorious was to hail Aquileia as a living, exemplary Church, which had produced its share of saints and martyrs. The Pope concluded exhorting them to partake of the bread of the Eucharist, the food that would strengthen them in adversity, discouragement and weakness.The Holy Father had greetings in the languages of the region: the Friulia dialect, German, Slovenian and Croatian.At the Basilica of Aquileia in the late afternoon, the Pope addressed the upcoming 2nd Ecclesial Assembly of the Northeast, which in April of 2012 will meet to discuss the most pressing questions facing them singly and as a family dedicated to evangelization – and an integral part of evangelization, old and new, is the task of finding ways to allow the Gospel to penetrate and transform culture. The Pope repeated the exhortation of the pastors of that church, namely to embark on a new Evangelization to be able to hand down to the new generation the precious heritage of the Christian faith. He asked them to discern with the eyes of faith the profound transformation taking place in the church, showing how to proclaim Jesus Christ and be educated to the faith today, in order to face the new challenges.nthe Christian faith had forged a people with a solid foundation, welding together the pluricultural identity of the population. The Pope recommended the care of the weaker sections of the community and above all the family as a priority, for it was the basic cell of society and of the church.
From Aquileia the Pope was taken by helicopter to Venice, where he greeted the faithful on St Mark’s square. After venerating the relics of St Mark in the Basilica, he retired for the night at the residence of the Patriarch.
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