“Good wishes” on behalf of the bishops and “all Italian Catholics” to Pope Benedict XVI on his 80th birthday and on the second anniversary of his election as Supreme Pontiff were expressed by the Secretary of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), Monsignor Giuseppe Betori, speaking on the Italian national television channel RaiUno. “We are grateful to the Lord – said Msgr. Betori – for the gift of this great Pope. He helps us to discover the beauty of the faith, and the joy of being believers: in other words, to discover in the Gospel a strength of life that is born from the big ‘Yes’ that God says to man in Jesus Christ”. This discovery of faith – according to Betori – “helps us to live our daily life in a new way”. “We are grateful to the Pope – concluded the general secretary of the CEI – for the way in which he helps us, through faith, to enlarge the limits of reason, to enable us to enter into dialogue with men and women of all societies who have at heart the human person and the common good of our society. We wish him long life and long service to the Gospel and to the Church”.
