Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, the president of the Italian bishops’
conference, said that the public reaction to a series of destructive
earthquakes in the center of the country have shown “the best face of
our country: our people, ready to put their lives at risk to save
others’ lives, willing to give up something of theirs to share it with
those who have lost everything.”The cardinal said that the tragedy caused by the earthquake has had the welcome side-effect of creating “a full common purpose.”