Pope welcomes medics from hard-hit Italy region

He said they “gave witness to God's proximity to those who suffer; they were silent artisans of the culture of proximity and tenderness.” The northern region of Lombardy, Italy's financial and industrial capital, was the hardest-hit region in the onetime European epicenter of the pandemic.

Pope Francis has welcomed doctors and nurses from Italy's coronavirus-ravaged Lombardy region to the Vatican to thank them for their selfless work and sacrifice

Francis told the delegation on Saturday that their example of professional competence and compassion would help Italy forge a new future of solidarity.

Francis said Lombardy's medical personnel became "angels" helping the sick recover or accompanying them to their death, given their family members were prevented from visiting them in the hospital. He said they "gave witness to God's proximity to those who suffer; they were silent artisans of the culture of proximity and tenderness." The northern region of Lombardy, Italy's financial and industrial capital, was the hardest-hit region in the onetime European epicenter of the pandemic. It has counted more than 92,000 of Italy's 232,000 infections and half of its 34,500 dead.