Mattarella sends pope message for 12th anniversary

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 19 - President Sergio Mattarella on Wednesday sent a message to Pope Francis, who has been in hospital since February 14 with bilateral pneumonia, for the 12th anniversary of his inauguration as the leader of the Catholic Church.
    "Together with me, the Italian people are grateful to you for these 12 years in which you have offered the most authentic testimony of evangelical values, in constant service not only to the Catholic Church, but to all of humanity," Mattarella said.
    "At the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, at the G7 Summit chaired by Italy, at the G20, your holiness brought a vibrant call to the rediscovery of hope, to the setting aside of the logic of force and abuse, to the call for renewal by an ethical use of new technologies.
    "While at the international level the reasons of law and of a correct articulation of coexistence between States seem to be weakening, your voice is, and remains, more necessary than ever....
    "In this spirit, Holy Father, I renew my sincere wishes for every well-being in the continuation of the pontificate to which I add those - ever more heartfelt - of a speedy recovery".
    (ANSA).