Hundreds at service topray for victims of quake

THE Archbishop of Glasgow addressed hundreds gathered at a special Mass in the city to remember the victims of the earthquake in central Italy.

Archbishop Tartaglia highlighted the close links between Scotland and Italy, saying Scots were in tears over the tragic events in central Italy, where at least 290 people were killed and hundreds more injured after a 6.2-magnitude quake struck in the early hours of last Wednesday.

Leading the service at St Andrew’s Cathedral, which was attended by more than 500 people, the archbishop pointed to the waves of Italian immigrants whose descendants are now dotted across Scotland.

“There is a well-established Italian community in Scotland that has been here for 100 years and more, and which is now in its third and fourth generations,” he said.

“They came here from towns and villages in Lazio and Tuscany and other regions of Italy much like the communities that were stricken by this latest earthquake.”

He was joined at the Mass by the Italian consul general for Scotland and Northern Ireland, Carlo Perrotta, and Archbishop Emeritus Mario Conti.

Italian authorities have promised to investigate whether negligence or fraud in adhering to building codes played a role in the high death toll from the earthquake.

Philip Contini, director of Edinburgh’s Italian Food and Wine Emporium, has appealed to all Italian restaurants in the capital to join them in support of the spaghetti all’amatriciana appeal, donating £2 for each dish sold to the disaster appeal.