On the eve of the G-8 summit which will take place in his city, Archbishop Giuseppe Molinari of L’Aquila said the earthquake-ravaged city “could symbolize wounded humanity."

"It is a warning to the G-8 leaders that the meeting should not be reduced to a catwalk but rather that it be a starting point for addressing the problems of the world and finding just solutions that benefit those who are suffering,” Molinari said.
 
Speaking to the Italian bishops' news agency SIR, the archbishop alerted that, “There are objectives such as the eradication of poverty by 2015 that are at risk of not being reached.”  “We can only pray that the meeting will result in decisions that benefit those who are poorest,” he added.
 
No doubt “this meeting puts our city at the center of the world’s attention,” the archbishop remarked.  “I think this will be an advantage because it will have positive effects in the social and economic realms, as well as in the reconstruction of the region’s infrastructure. 
 
The G-8 leaders will have the chance to see some of the reconstruction that has taken place since the April earthquake that took the lives of more than 100 and left thousands injured and homeless, the archbishop said.