Singer and song-writer Claudio
Baglioni will perform on December 17 at a live benefit concert
at the Vatican for the children of Bangui, the capital of the
Central African Republic, and the population of Valle del
Tronto, an area devastated by the deadly August 24 earthquake in
central Italy.
The concert, to be held at the Paul VI audience Hall, marks
the 200th anniversary of the Vatican's gendarmerie corps.
It is part of the event 'Avrai' - called after a song
written by Baglioni for his son - which was promoted last spring
on the initiative of Pope Francis to raise funds for the
hospital in the poverty-stricken African city, where a president
was elected in February after a devastating civil war between
the local Christian majority and Muslim minority that erupted in
March 2013.
Funding will go to train doctors, a local pediatrics
department and the construction of new pavilions through the
Vatican's Bambino Gesù hospital, as well as to populations in
central Italy affected by the quake.
During a six-day Africa tour in November 2015, the pope
travelled to the capital of the Central African Republic,
visiting a mosque under siege from armed Christian militias and
delivering a message of peace and reconciliation.
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