Pope marks 25th anniversary
of terrorist attack on Jewish center in Buenos Aires
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| Pope Francis in pray (ANSA) |
Pope Francis sends a letter to a Jewish center in Argentina
to commemorate the 25th anniversary of a terrorist bombing that left 85 people
dead and hundreds wounded.
By Linda Bordoni
“25 years have passed since the AMIA tragedy” writes Pope Francis, and every single 18 July “I keep in my heart the families of the victims, both Jews and Christians”.
“25 years have passed since the AMIA tragedy” writes Pope Francis, and every single 18 July “I keep in my heart the families of the victims, both Jews and Christians”.
In a letter to the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires, whose
headquarters were destroyed by a terror attack on 18 July 1994 that
killed 85 people and wounded over 200 others, the Pope decried “the madness of
destroying lives and hopes in the name of religion” and the “blasphemous use of
the name of God”.
"We know well that it is not religion that incites and
leads to war, but the darkness in the hearts of those who commit irrational
acts," he said.
Assuring the families of the victims that he prays to God
for the eternal rest of those who lost their lives in this act of madness, the
Pope said “I also pray for those who survived the explosion that wounded them
in their bodies and in their souls”.
And referring to the "third world war being fought
piecemeal,” the Pope said this madness is certainly not limited to
Argentina,”it tramples on lives and on the future” everywhere.
“It knows no boundaries and shows its cruel face from East to West; it transforms brides into widows, sons and daughters into orphans - and all this in the name of religion, making blasphemous use of God's name,” he said.
“It knows no boundaries and shows its cruel face from East to West; it transforms brides into widows, sons and daughters into orphans - and all this in the name of religion, making blasphemous use of God's name,” he said.
Pope Francis concluded inviting all believers to nurture
brotherhood, a vocation to which God calls each of us:
“God has called us to live together as brothers, and this
brotherhood unites us well beyond any geographical or ideological limits.
Together we make up the great human family; we must pass this awareness of
being brothers, together with the values of respect and tolerance, to future
generations. God has created us equal in rights, but also in duties and
dignity. For him, peace must not only be our right, its construction must be
our obligation. In this commemoration of the 25th anniversary [of the attack] I
am with you and I pray with you”.
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