“Thank you for your pastoral zeal”, proper to him who “was able to serve with meekness and far-sightedness, placing evangelical charity above all else”. Pope Francis wrote this in the letter he sent to Card. Angelo Bagnasco, Archbishop of Genoa. “I was pleased to read the beautiful letter that you addressed to me at the end of your term as president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI)”, Pope Francis began. “I perceived in it submission to the divine plan, passion for the Church, eagerness to listen, and a spirit of service that have characterised your intense and generous work this decade”. “I join the other Bishops – the Pope went on to write – in reiterating my sincere gratitude for the perseverance and patience with which you were able to carry out a ‘not easy’ task, while also promoting cordial fraternal and ecclesial relations which testify to the importance of communion and the joy of faith. You were able to serve with meekness and far-sightedness, placing evangelical charity above all else. Thank you for your pastoral zeal”. “Also, your commitment and your presidency – Pope Francis’ tribute – have inspired the Church in Italy to become ever more ‘an outbound Church’, a joyful herald of the Gospel of mercy and a witness to hope”.