Vatican Museum to hold “Day of Solidarity” for victims of Italy’s earthquake

(April29, 2009): Vatican Museum is holding a special “Solidarity Day” to help in the reconstruction of the Abruzzo region of central Italy devastated by the April 6 earthquake. In an extraordinary gesture, the Museum will be kept open on Sunday, May 10, and the all the income of that day will be given to help the victims of the disaster and in the reconstruction of buildings and churches. The personnel of the Museum has also decided to offer the income of their day’s work, to help the earthquake victims, who lost everything, said a communiqué released on Wednesday (April 29) by the Governorate of Vatican City. Their decision was taken a day after Pope Benedict XVI visited the region on Tuesday (April 28). The Pope was visibly taken aback by the level of destruction. The terrible earthquake of 6.3 magnitude reduced buildings, churches and homes to rubble, left some 300 people dead, over 1.500 injured and over 65 thousand homeless. The Pope has been thanked profusely for his paternal visit by Archbishop Giuseppe Molinari of the Archdiocese of Aquila and all the clergy and the people, for giving them hope and courage again to carry on .