ITALY: THOUSANDS OF PILGRIMS HAVE ARRIVED IN THE CITY OF LORETO AHEAD OF POPE JOHN PAUL'S VISIT

Record ID: 647345

  • Title: ITALY: THOUSANDS OF PILGRIMS HAVE ARRIVED IN THE CITY OF LORETO AHEAD OF POPE JOHN PAUL'S VISIT
  • Date: 4th September 2004
  • Summary: (EU) LORETO, ITALY (SEPTEMBER 4, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. SLV/SV PILGRIMS GATHERING IN LORETO PIAZZA (2 SHOTS) 0.09 2. SLV POLICE IN PIAZZA LOOKING ON 0.12 3. SV VARIOUS OF PILGRIMS BUYING SOUVENIRS (2 SHOTS) 0.28 4. SV/CU POSTER WITH POPE'S FACE ADVERTISING MASS (2 SHOTS) 0.36 5. MCU (Italian) PRIEST, DON SERGIO DELLA ROSSA, SAYING: "I feel sadness for all of them. It seemed impossible that anything like this could happen but today our equilibrium seems to have changed and extremists seem to win. This makes all of us very sad particularly as we are followers of love". 0.58 6. PAN OF PIGLRIMS GATHERING IN PIAZZA 1.04 7. SLV/SV VARIOUS OF POLICE (2 SHOTS) 1.14 8. CU OF PILGRIMS 1.19 9. LV PILGRIMS INSIDE BASILICA 1.23 10. SV VARIOUS OF PIGLRIMS ENTERING SHRINE (2 SHOTS) 1.40 11. MCU (Italian) ROLANDO NECONI SAYING: "It was a moment of great suffering. We followed what was happening day by day but the conclusion was completely opposite from that which we hoped. We will pray for them" 1.57 12. LAS OF PILGRIMS OUTSIDE BASILICA 2.01 13. LV/SV THOUSANDS OF PILGRIMS GATHERING AT MASS SITE (2 SHOTS) 2.18 14. LV OF STAGE 2.24 15. SLV OF CHILDREN PRACTISING DANCE ROUTINE ON STAGE 2.36 16. LV OF PILGRIM BEING SPRAYED WITH WATER BECAUSE OF HEAT (3 SHOTS) 2.55 17. CU OFPILGRIMS 3.00 18. LV OF PILGRIMS GATHERING AT MASS (2 SHOTS) 3.12 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 19th September 2004 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LORETO, ITALY
  • Country: Italy
  • Reuters ID: LVAE87CWAA70F9KGRDZITQMGXO1E
  • Story Text: Thousands of pilgrims have arrived in the city of
    Loreto ahead of Pople John Paul's visit.



    Pilgrims from all over the world have begun pouring
    into the central Italian town of Loreto on Saturday
    (September 4), home to a shrine to Virgin Mary, where the
    pope will beatify three people.

    An army of thousands of young people, wearing
    distinctive orange caps and carrying sleeping bags, have
    already taken up their place on the lawn near the stage to
    make sure they get a good position for Sunday's mass
    (September 5).

    The pope will hold a two-hour outdoor mass during which
    he will beatify Italians Alberto Marvelli and Pina Suriano,
    and the Catalan priest Pere Tarres i Claret.

    As the town began buzzing with excitement over Sunday's
    ceremony, a number of pilgrims expressed concern over the
    bloody end to hostages at a school in the Russian republic
    of North Ossetia.

    "I feel sadness for all of them", said priest Don
    Sergio Della Rossa.

    "It seemed impossible that anything like this could
    happen but today our equilibrium seems to have changed and
    extremists seem to win. This makes all of us very sad
    particularly as we are followers of love", he said.

    At least 322 people, including 155 children, died
    during a two-day siege by Chechen separatists at a school
    in Beslan, north Ossetia. The death toll confirmed the
    episode as the grimmest hostage-taking of modern times.

    "It was a moment of great suffering", said Italian
    pilgrim Rolando Neconi who has an adopted a Russian
    daughter. "We followed what was happening day by day but,
    the
    conclusion was completely opposite from that which we
    hoped. We will pray for them", he said.

    In a telegram on Saturday, the pope condemned the vile
    and merciless siege of a Russian school and called for an
    end to every type of terrorism. The 84-year-old Pope's illness and
    frailty was very
    evident on his last trip to Lourdes, France in August
    where his words faltered and he gasped for breath.

    But, he said he was determined to do his job until God
    allowed him and has forged ahead with this trip to Loreto
    where vast crowds of faithfulls have already begun to
    attend him.



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