Italian Bishops will continue to speak with “clearness and serenity,” Bagnasco says

Rome, Italy, Mar 8, 2007 / 10:00 am

Speaking this morning from the headquarters of the Italian Bishops Conference (CEI) in Rome, Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco, the newly appointed CEI President said he will continue to lead the bishops of Italy in speaking clearly but peacefully about current moral issues.

Archbishop Bagnasco, who replaced Cardinal Camillo Ruini at the bishops conference yesterday, said that he will continue to “relaunch” the proposals made at the recent CEI meeting in Verona.

“Clearness and serenity,” said Bagnasco, “must characterize the attitudes to be assumed in the current times. [Speaking clearly],” he added, “does not exclude [speaking with peace].”

“We are not allied with any throne, but we are the allies of man,” the new president said.  “The richness of our Church is being rooted in the fabric of our people, even though it is not always acknowledged, and sometimes it is neglected.”

Bagnasco said he was glad to take on his new responsibility.  “With hope, I accepted the act of my appointment by the Holy Father, in the service of the Church in Italy,” the archbishop said, repeating comments he made yesterday in Genoa, “When the Pope calls, we answer him.”