Amatrice marks year from quake (2)

(ANSA) - Amatrice, August 24 - 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.