Pope tells quake victims 'life resumes'

ROVERETO DI NOVI, Italy, June 26 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI visited the region in northern Italy recently devastated by two earthquakes Tuesday and urged the public to be generous to the victims.

The pope said public institutions and individuals should imitate the Good Samaritan "who does not pass by indifferent to those in need," the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

The area in Emilia-Romagna about 20 miles north of Bologna was hit by two strong earthquakes in May, one measuring 6.1 on the open-ended Richter scale May 20 and the second May 29 measuring 5.1. The two earthquakes left 27 people dead and destroyed or damaged scores of buildings, including 100 of historical importance.

Benedict told a large crowd of local residents that he wanted to be a sign "of love and hope." He compared the job of rebuilding in the region, one of Italy's most economically important, to the one the country faced after World War II.

"I felt deeply moved seeing so many wounds, but I have also seen many hands that want to heal them together with you," he said. "I have seen that life resumes, it wants to start again with strength and courage and this is the most beautiful, luminous sign."

The pope traveled from Rome by helicopter for the one-day visit.