"The risk is (the city) becomes just a container that offers opportunities for events and exhibitions, just a huge stage. The real challenge for Venice is remaining a livable city" that prioritizes children and elderly residents first, since the high cost of living forces many families to move elsewhere, he told Vatican News July 31.

"I believe that this city, besides becoming the world capital of sustainability, could truly become a study in the church's social teachings," guided in particular by the vision of "Laudato Si','" he said.

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Used to high tides, local authorities in the lagoon city have called a state emergency.

More than 85% of Venice was flooded as the high watermark reached over 6 feet.

Wednesday's water levels were the highest in more than 50 years and are the second-highest level since records began in 1923, and there have been only six floods of similar severity.

In October 2018, floodwaters damaged part of the mosaic floor of the Madonna Nicopeia chapel.

Once the water level subsided, Venice Patriarch, Francesco Moraglia and mayor Luigi Brugnaro inspected the damage to St Mark's.

Moraglia expressed concern for those who sleep on the city's streets and appealed to Venice parishes to be the first to open their doors to these people.

"To my Venetians, so much closeness, I have asked Caritas to be active in all possible ways, and I also make available emergency funds for charity," Moraglia said, according to ACI Stampa.

"Venice is on its knees," tweeted Brugnaro.

According to Brugnaru, the flood levels represent a wound that will leave indelible marks.

"We are here with Patriarch Moraglia to show our support, but we need everyone's help to overcome these days that are putting us to the test," he said.

Brugnaro puts the damage in the hundreds of millions, says the floods are the result of climate change.

He is appealing to the Italian Government for assistance.

Italy's minister of culture, Dario Franceschini, confirmed the government will provide funding to help preserve the UNESCO world heritage site.

As yet, the amount of funding remains unspecified.

Venice sits on thousands of wooden piles driven into the mud, but rising sea levels and heavy cruise ship traffic have steadily eaten away at the surrounding marshes and mudbanks, causing the city to gradually sink.

Additional reporting

• Flooding in Venice - in pictures

Sources

• CNA
• The Guardian
• ACI Stampa

The landmark tourist destination was flooded under nearly a metre of water, which damaged part of the 1,000-year-old marble mosaic floor in front of the altar of the Madonna Nicopeia, a 12th-century icon.

The baptistry and the Zen Chapel (named for Cardinal Giambattista Zen who died in 1501) were also flooded and the basilica's bronze doors and columns were damaged.

"In a single day, the basilica aged 20 years, but perhaps this is an optimistic consideration," says Carlo Alberto Tesserin, head of the board responsible for St Mark's Basilica.

In the Basilica's 926 year history, there have been only five floods as severe. The high water mark in Venice reached over 1.5 metres on Monday with an "acqua alta," or high tide, covering 75 percent of the city.

Some officials think the city could have been protected by a massive flood barrier which is not yet complete.

The long-delayed, decade-long, seawall project is meant to block rising waters and threats from global warming.

Cost overruns and bureaucratic delays have contributed to slow progress on the so-called "Moses Project."

Source

• Catholic Herald
• Axios
• CNN
• Image: The Telegraph

In an article in the National Catholic Register, Rome correspondent Edward Pentin wrote that Francis's choice of cardinals is among the indicators of his pontificate's direction.

Pentin noted that Francis has chosen not to award "so many red hats to traditional cardinalatial sees, especially in Italy".

Examples Pentin cited include Venice and Turin.

Rather, the Pope has gone to the global peripheries for new cardinals, reflecting the universality of the Church.

Pentin described the elevation to cardinal of Cardinal Soane Patita Paini Mafi of Tonga as "unprecedented".

The writer noted Tonga's population was little more than 100,000 and that Protestants outnumber Catholics significantly.

Another such appointment from a small state was that of Cardinal Arlindo Gomes Furtado of Cape Verde, Pentin noted.

"Despite [such appointments of cardinals] being a widely welcomed innovation that focuses on parts of the world where the Church is growing fastest, not all are happy with the move," Pentin added.

"One senior Church official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Register that emphasis on the peripheries may sound worthy, but it omits the fact that being a member of the College of Cardinals involves ‘some very weighty responsibilities, in terms of advising the Pope, electing a Roman pontiff'.

"For this reason, he believes, ‘a certain respect for the very large sees is logical'.

"In any case, the Church official said, the bishop of a large diocese is already ‘involved in a big way in the peripheries of his own diocese'.

"Others believe new cardinals from the peripheries will also be taken less seriously," Pentin wrote, "and have comparably less influence than those from the traditionally-cardinalatial metropolitan sees."

In April last year, Pope Francis named Cardinal Mafi to be a member of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples and of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, which promotes and coordinates Catholic charitable giving

In 2011, there were 15,441 Catholics in Tonga, making up 15 per cent of the population.

Catholics were the third largest denomination in Tonga, behind Methodists (54 per cent) and Mormons (18 per cent).

Sources

• National Catholic Register
• Catholic News Service
• Matangitonga
• Image: Catholic News Service