Italy’s quake survivors celebrate Easter Mass

(April 13, 2009) Italy’s earthquake survivors sought comfort from the tragedy that leveled their cities and killed hundreds among them as they gathered for Easter Sunday Mass in makeshift chapels erected throughout the quake-stricken zone of the central region of Abruzzo. Prime minister Silvio Berlusconi arrived for Mass in the regional capital of L'Aquila with firefighters, many of whom had to deal with the loss of their own loved ones or property as they responded to the 6.3-magnitude quake that killed 294 people, left some 40,000 homeless and leveled thousands of buildings.
Archbishop Giuseppe Molinari of Aquila, who celebrated Mass before a small statue of the Madonna and a crucifix hanging from tent wall, acknowledged their anger over the huge losses they had suffered. «We are all a little bit angry with God because we never expected a tragedy this big. But even anger toward God is a sign of faith,» the archbishop said. Brown-robed Capuchin monks helped move out dining tables and set up rows of chairs for the tent-city Mass, while rescue workers handed out traditional dove-shaped Easter cake to survivors of the devastating quake of April 6.