Pope begins two-day tour of impoverished southern Italy

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

SANTA MARIA DI LEUCA, Italy (AFP) — Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday praised the work of the Roman Catholic Church in southern Italy as he began a two-day visit to the impoverished Apulia region.

Tradition holds that it was here that Saint Peter, the disciple of Jesus considered the founder of the Christian Church, arrived from Palestine and headed to Rome to begin the evangelisation of Europe.

"This promontory between Europe and the Mediterranean, between West and East, reminds us that the Church has no borders, that it is universal," said the 81-year-old pontiff.

Benedict also hailed the "generosity" of the port city of Brindisi that for years took in thousands of refugees from the former Yugoslavia and Albania.

The German-born pope celebrated an...