Pope's "profound grief" for latest terrorist attacks in Iraq
Archbishop Lajolo also includes attacks in Dahab and the Holy Land in this expression of "firm condemnation". "The use of violence against innocent people can never be justified and the term 'sacrifice' cannot be used in relation to the attackers, whatever may be the motive that pushes them to act in such an inhumane way."
Vatican City (AsiaNews) Benedict XVI expressed his "profound grief" for "this morning's serious attack which struck young Italian soldiers, as well as a young Romanian, who were in Iraq to give a generous and selfless contribution toward peace and freedom in that country" in a message sent on his behalf by Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, to Italy's foreign minister, Gianfranco Fini. News of this message was given by the Vatican's "foreign minister", Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo in an interview with Vatican Radio, during which he also condemned the triple attack in Dahab and "criminal terrorist attacks in the Holy Land, which," he stated, "fill us with horror and indignation."
The Dahab attack, he said, "brings back the memory of two other Egyptian tourism locations struck in the past: Taba, where 35 people lost their life in October 2004 and Sharm El Sheik where, in July 2005, more than 60 were killed. The attack this morning in Nassiriya reminds us of the sacrifice of 18 Italians (12 "Carabinieri" paramilitary police officers, 4 soldiers and 2 civilians) on November 12, 2003, in that same city. But our attention is shaken by the news which arrives from Iraq almost daily of acts of cruel barbarity, which seem unending and which in fact are devastating and delaying that country's laborious democratic process. And we also cannot forget the criminal terrorist acts in the Holy Land, which as always fill us with horror and indignation."
"Though recognizing," he added, "that circumstances are certainly different as are also, it seems, the minds that plot such actions, they are all to be firmly condemned in the same way. The use of violence against innocent persons can never be justified and the term "sacrifice" cannot be used in relation to the attackers, whatever may be the motive that pushes them to act in such an inhumane way." Archbishop Lajolo then recalled Benedict XVI's call to "eliminate from hearts any trace of rancour, in resisting every form of intolerance and in opposing every manifestation of violence." "This thought", Archbishop Lajolo stressed, "has been repeated by the Pope more than once; and he has often insisted that the dignity of the human person and the defence of his rights must constitute the purpose of every social project."
Archbishop Lajolo's conclusion is that "the Holy See remains committed always to collaborating in the ways proper to it with the various international efforts to promote peace and coexistence among peoples, respecting international law."
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