Vatican City, Feb 20, 2010 / 08:50 am
Meeting with members of two Italian aviation-related agencies on Saturday in the Nervi Room of the Apostolic Palace, Pope Benedict spoke of the importance of air travel to evangelization and urged airline workers to protect the integrity of people as they travel across the globe.
Pope Benedict XVI noted the important role of the airplane in broadening the "frontiers of mobility" in the last century and called airports "privileged intersections of the global village."
Those who work in aviation administration, he said, are entrusted with the "ever more complex junction of contemporary life and communication between people and nations."
In the many duties ascribed to those who work in the aviation, he added, "it's important to remember that, in every project and activity, the first 'capital' to safeguard and value is the person, in his or her integrity" despite the complexities and difficulties brought on by economic crisis and terrorism, which uses airports and airplanes as "targets."