Pope in Tuscany: light, hope, joy

Pope Benedict XVI travelled to central Italy on Sunday, celebrating Mass in Arezzo before proceeding to Sansepolcro, where he prayed in the cathedral church that houses the famous crucifix known as the Santo Volto - the "Holy Face". Listen to our report:

In Sansepolcro, Pope Benedict addressed the citizenry, recalling the town's history which, he said, embodied its founding Fathers’ hope for the future, "a future in which Christ’s disciples were called to be the motor of society in the promotion of peace through the practice of justice.” The Holy Father explained that it was a vision rooted in the great tradition of Christian thinking about politics and history in light of God’s provident goodness, of which St Augustine of Hippo is a principal architect.

“Dear friends,” said Pope Benedict, “the ideal of your founders has continued through history and reaches us now in the present.” He went on to say, “[This ideal] constitutes not only the lynchpin of the identity of Sansepolcro and the diocesan Church, but also a challenge: to conserve and promote Christian thought, which is at the origin of this city.”

Inclement weather kept the Holy Father from his scheduled visit to the chapel of the Holy Wounds in La Verna, where, in 1224, St Francis of Assisi received the stigmata.