Pope Benedict XVI today appealed for the release of a sick 18-month-old toddler whose mysterious kidnapping has gripped Italy.
Tomasso Onofri, kidnapped last Thursday. The Pope appealed for his release today.
The Pope, in a message to a bishop in northern Italy, called for the "immediate and unconditional" release of Tommaso Onofri and said he was praying for the boy's suffering parents. The Pope condemned the kidnapping as "brutal".
Tommaso, who needs an anti-convulsive medicine twice a day, was abducted by two men who broke into the family home last Thursday in Casalbaroncolo near the wealthy city of Parma in northern Italy.
The boy's mother has appeared on television in tears to urge kidnappers to give him regular doses of an anti-epilepsy drug.
The Onofri family is not rich, and investigators say that no ransom has been demanded so far.
Pictures of wide-eyed, curly-haired Tommaso wearing a blue and red clown costume, have been splashed on the front pages of all newspapers as politicians, priests, pop stars and soccer players have appealed for his release.
The anti-Mafia police have also joined the investigation after a jailed informer said he had heard of a plot to kidnap someone in the area.