Giancarlo Galan the governor of Veneto

, Jan 18, 2008 / 02:30 pm (CNA).- The governor of the region of Veneto in northern Italy, Giancarlo Galan, has proposed inviting Pope Benedict XVI to the historic University of Padua, one of the oldest in the world and where Galileo once taught.

“It would be a great tribute as part of the Galilean celebrations that are taking place this year,” Galan said.  The governor’s proposal has received the support of the mayor of Padua, Flavio Zanonato, who said that the final decision should rest with the rector of the university, Professor Vincenzo Milanesi.

Meanwhile Professor Furio Honsell, rector of the University of Udine—also in northern Italy—has announced that in response to requests by students, he will invite Pope Benedict XVI to give a lecture.  “I think it is a positive response by the young people to an unacceptable situation,” Honsell said in reference to the Pope’s cancelled speech at La Sapienza University in Rome.

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