Vatican City, 9 July 2016 – The Holy Father has sent a telegram of condolences to Cardinal Giuseppe Betori, archbishop of Florence, Italy, for the death of Cardinal Silvano Piovanelli, archbishop of the same city from 1983 to 2001, at the age of 92, following a long illness.

The Pope noted that the cardinal face his illness with "a serene heart and with trustful submission to the Lord's will", and expressed to the entire diocesan community of Florence and the relatives of the departed cardinal his deepest participation in their mourning.

Francis writes, "I think with affection of this dear brother in the episcopate, who served the Gospel with joy and wisdom and loved the Church tenaciously, recalling with gratitude his intense pastoral work, first as a zealous priest and auxiliary bishop, and then as an attentive and wise guide of the archdiocese. I raise fervent prayers to the Lord so that, by the intercession of St. John the Baptist and the blessed Virgin Mary, He welcome his faithful servant and distinguished pastor in heavenly Jerusalem, and I impart my heartfelt apostolic blessing to you, to the dear Florentine Church and to those who knew him and held him in esteem".