Armenian patriarch expresses sympathy to Catholics
February 08, 2006
by Spero News
His Beatitude Mesrob II, Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul and All Turkey, expressed his sentiments of sympathy on the assasination of the Revd. Fr. Andrea Santoro in Trabzon.
Fr. Santoro was shot dead last Sunday, 5 February 2006, by a 16-year-old juvenile delinquent currently registered as a student at the Fatih High School in Trabzon.
[...]
As reported by the Compass Direct correspondent in Turkey, Barbara G. Baker, the private NTV television station reported late Tuesday afternoon: during his first interrogation the youth confessed that he committed the murder as a reaction against the caricatures of the prophet Muhammad.
[...]
[...] Hours after the murder, Papal Nuncio Antonio Lucibello confirmed to the press that the attacker had shouted "Allahu akbar" (God is great) as he ran out of the church. Although the phrase is an Arabic acclamation of prayer, it is also used as a rallying cry by Islamist militants.
Eyewitnesses to the murder included a young Turkish employee of the church standing near the kneeling Santoro and the Italian priest?s niece who lived with him. The rest of the congregation had already left the chapel sanctuary.
Turkish government authorities swiftly condemned the murder.
"We believe it is entirely an individual act," Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told the press yesterday, "but we don't know the reason behind it or who encouraged it."
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed dismay over the murder, which he suggested could be linked to the controversial cartoon images. "We're extremely saddened with such an incident," Erdogan said, "especially after developments in Denmark," where the caricatures were first published.
[...]
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
by Spero News
His Beatitude Mesrob II, Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul and All Turkey, expressed his sentiments of sympathy on the assasination of the Revd. Fr. Andrea Santoro in Trabzon.
Fr. Santoro was shot dead last Sunday, 5 February 2006, by a 16-year-old juvenile delinquent currently registered as a student at the Fatih High School in Trabzon.
[...]
As reported by the Compass Direct correspondent in Turkey, Barbara G. Baker, the private NTV television station reported late Tuesday afternoon: during his first interrogation the youth confessed that he committed the murder as a reaction against the caricatures of the prophet Muhammad.
[...]
[...] Hours after the murder, Papal Nuncio Antonio Lucibello confirmed to the press that the attacker had shouted "Allahu akbar" (God is great) as he ran out of the church. Although the phrase is an Arabic acclamation of prayer, it is also used as a rallying cry by Islamist militants.
Eyewitnesses to the murder included a young Turkish employee of the church standing near the kneeling Santoro and the Italian priest?s niece who lived with him. The rest of the congregation had already left the chapel sanctuary.
Turkish government authorities swiftly condemned the murder.
"We believe it is entirely an individual act," Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told the press yesterday, "but we don't know the reason behind it or who encouraged it."
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed dismay over the murder, which he suggested could be linked to the controversial cartoon images. "We're extremely saddened with such an incident," Erdogan said, "especially after developments in Denmark," where the caricatures were first published.
[...]
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 6:52 PM
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