Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church hosted a delegation of 72 members and guests of the International College of Dentists (ICD) in September at the Vatican. Representatives of the College Centennial Committee presented the pope with the only copy of a commemorative book describing the ICD’s core values and an ongoing humanitarian program in Angola.
“Creating the presentation for this occasion was certainly a unique challenge,” said ICD centennial general chair S. Dov Sydney, DDS.
“Fortunately, the pope was most gracious in his praise for the College and visibly moved when seeing an example of the impact ICD projects have had on the relief of human suffering and improvement of oral health in hundreds of projects around the world, which he described as ‘a very good initiative.’ His encouragement for the upcoming centennial celebrations and ICD’s one hundred years of service to those in need were very much appreciated,” Sydney said.
“The entire ICD family around the world, and especially the European Section, who donated funds for the Angola project, are honored to have received this unprecedented papal acknowledgement for the work of our College,” said ICD section registrar Mauro Labanca, MD, DDS, who shepherded the year-long process of arranging the papal meeting.
“It was an amazing experience and a proud moment for all of us. I am so very grateful to the Holy See for agreeing to meet with the ICD,” Labanca said.
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