The Lazio village of Amatrice
on Thursday marked a year from the devastating earthquake that
hit it and other central Italian village killing 299 people and
causing untold damage.
At 03:36, the exact time the earthquake hit, a torchlit
procession was capped by 249 bell tolls for the victims there
and in the other most affected Lazio village of Accumoli.
The procession was preceded by the reading of the biographies
of the victims and followed by prayers.
Mayor Sergio Pirozzi unveiled a monument in memory of those
who lost their lives and a day of mourning for the town has been
declared.
Rieti Bishop Domenico Pompili told a remembrance Mass a year
after the August 24, 2016 quake that Amatrice will "certainly"
be reborn.
In his homily, Pompili said there should be "no further
delays, reconstruction is possible".
He said "delays do not pay, not even in politics".
Pompili told a packed church, "from the night, may we come to
the dawn".
He also said the quake had "unveiled a courage that we could
not have imagined"
Pompili said "lone heroes are not needed" and a collective
effort was required.
Premier Paolo Gentiloni was among the dignitaries who came to
Amatrice for the anniversary Mass in a tent in the devastated
village.
President Sergio Mattarelal sent a wreath.
The president of the Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI),
Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, told SIR news agency that the
government should find "wise ways, above and beyond possible
mistakes and delays," to repair the cultural heritage damaged in
last year's devastating earthquakes in central Italy.
The government has been accused of dragging its feet in the
restoration effort after countless churches and works of art
were damaged by the quake a year ago and by two equally large
after-shocks, which caused further severe damage but killed no
one, in October.
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