Italy holds state funeral for earthquake victims

A state funeral was held on Saturday in the town of Ascoli Piceno in Italy for some of the victims of an earthquake that devastated three nearby towns last Wednesday, killing at least 290 people. The Requiem Mass was celebrated by Bishop Giovanni D'Ercole in a community gym where 35 simple wooden coffins, covered in flowers, were laid out. Politicians and community leaders were among the congregation.

Weeping relatives hugged each other through the Mass. Amongst the coffins were two small caskets painted white holding the bodies of an 18-month-old baby and a nine-year-old girl, Giulia Rinaldo, two of the 21 children who are known to have died in the disaster. Giulia's younger sister survived the quake, because she was under her sister's body. One of the firefighters left a note on Giulia's coffin, apologising for arriving too late to save her. He wrote: 'When I return to my house in L'Aquila I will know there is an angel watching me from the sky and you will be a shining star in the night. Bye Giulia. I love you even though you never got to know me."

Bishop Giovanni D'Ercole said in his homily: "Don't be afraid to weep, we have seen so much suffering. But I ask you not to lose your courage. Only together can we rebuild our houses and churches. Above all, together we can give life back to our communities," he said, speaking in front of a dusty crucifix salvaged from one of dozens of churches devastated by the quake.

Even as the Requiem Mass was taking place, teams of rescuers kept searching through the rubble of the worst hit town, Amatrice, although they acknowledged they had little hope of finding any more survivors from Italy's worst earthquake in seven years.

Nine more bodies were recovered from the town on Saturday, including three corpses that were pulled overnight from the crumpled Hotel Roma, bringing the death toll in Amatrice alone to 230 residents and tourists.

Source: Vatican Radio, BBC