CANBERRA, ACT, Aug. 16 -- The Prime Minister of Australia issued the following media release:
Buongiorno and happy Ferragosto.
This is a fantastic celebration.
Of course, today I want to pay tribute and begin by thanking as well the faith leaders, including His Grace, Bishop Umbers, for the procession.
Because today is, of course, in acknowledgement of the feast, celebrating the Assumption into Ascension into Heaven of the Virgin Mary.
It is also a celebration that goes back many hundreds of years, from a time where the harvest in summer, mid-August, was celebrating the harvest in Italy, and where there was a period of rest for people in those agricultural communities.
Here in modern Australia, of course, it is a celebration of someth...