Rome, Italy, May 9, 2011 / 10:16 am
After traveling through Venice's waterways in a gondola, Pope Benedict urged citizens gathered in the city's main square to cultivate a society rooted in the “firm foundations of the Gospel.”
“Venice is called to assume important responsibilities in promoting a culture of welcome and sharing,” the Pope said, urging them to build “a culture of harmony and love that has its firm foundations in the Gospel.”
Pope Benedict's May 7 address in St. Mark's Square came during his two-day visit to Venice over the weekend. It was his first papal trip to the historic Italian city famously built upon a series of canals. The pontiff traveled on the same gondola used by Pope John Paul II in 1985 during the last papal visit to the city.
The Pope highlighted the “openness that has always characterized Venice” during his remarks to citizens and government officials. He praised the city for being “a crossroads of peoples and of communities of every provenance, culture, language, and religion.”