Nun killed and West Bank churches torched after Pope’s speech

-18/09/06

Italian polic


Nun killed and West Bank churches torched after Pope’s speech

-18/09/06

Italian police were yesterday ordered to tighten security at potential Catholic targets across the country as the leaders of the Roman Catholic church anxiously waited to see if a personal expression of regret by Pope Benedict would assuage Muslim fury over his remarks on Islam.

Gunmen shot and killed an Italian nun at a children’s hospital in Somalia at the weekend, and two churches were torched on the West Bank, in incidents that are being linked to the speech made by the Pope.

The Catholic nun’s bodyguard also died in the latest attack apparently aimed at foreign personnel in volatile Somalia.

The attack drew immediate speculation of links to Muslim anger over the Pope’s recent remarks on Islam.

The bodyguard died instantly, but the nun was rushed into an operating theatre at the hospital after the shooting.

A high-level Islamist source told Reuters the attack may well be linked to the controversy over Pope Benedict’s recent remarks about holy wars, which have been taken by many Muslims as an attempt to portray their religion as innately violent.

A Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said he hoped it was “an isolated event”, adding: “We are worried about the consequences of this wave of hatred and hope it doesn’t have grave consequences for the church around the world.”

But in the West Bank local Christian officials said a stone church in Tulkarem built 170 years ago was torched on Sunday.

Another church in the village of Tubas was attacked with firebombs and partially burned.

On Saturday, attackers had hurled firebombs and opened fire at five churches in the West Bank and Gaza, sparking concerns of a widening rift between Palestinian Muslims and Christians.

Ismail Haniya, the Palestinian prime minister, called on Palestinians on Sunday to refrain from sectarian strife.

The violence began last week after Pope Benedict, in a talk rejecting religious motivation for violence, cited the words of a Byzantine emperor who characterised some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as “evil and inhuman”, particularly “his command to spread by the sword the faith”.

The pope has since expressed regret following massive protests across the Muslim world, including a march by 2,000 people in downtown Gaza City on Friday.

However in Turkey, a government member, Mehmet Aydin, said the Pope seemed to be saying he was sorry for the outrage, but not necessarily for the remarks themselves. “You either have to say ‘I’m sorry’ in a proper way or not say it at all,” he said.


Nun killed and West Bank churches torched after Pope’s speech

-18/09/06

Italian police were yesterday ordered to tighten security at potential Catholic targets across the country as the leaders of the Roman Catholic church anxiously waited to see if a personal expression of regret by Pope Benedict would assuage Muslim fury over his remarks on Islam.

Gunmen shot and killed an Italian nun at a children’s hospital in Somalia at the weekend, and two churches were torched on the West Bank, in incidents that are being linked to the speech made by the Pope.

The Catholic nun’s bodyguard also died in the latest attack apparently aimed at foreign personnel in volatile Somalia.

The attack drew immediate speculation of links to Muslim anger over the Pope’s recent remarks on Islam.

The bodyguard died instantly, but the nun was rushed into an operating theatre at the hospital after the shooting.

A high-level Islamist source told Reuters the attack may well be linked to the controversy over Pope Benedict’s recent remarks about holy wars, which have been taken by many Muslims as an attempt to portray their religion as innately violent.

A Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said he hoped it was “an isolated event”, adding: “We are worried about the consequences of this wave of hatred and hope it doesn’t have grave consequences for the church around the world.”

But in the West Bank local Christian officials said a stone church in Tulkarem built 170 years ago was torched on Sunday.

Another church in the village of Tubas was attacked with firebombs and partially burned.

On Saturday, attackers had hurled firebombs and opened fire at five churches in the West Bank and Gaza, sparking concerns of a widening rift between Palestinian Muslims and Christians.

Ismail Haniya, the Palestinian prime minister, called on Palestinians on Sunday to refrain from sectarian strife.

The violence began last week after Pope Benedict, in a talk rejecting religious motivation for violence, cited the words of a Byzantine emperor who characterised some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as “evil and inhuman”, particularly “his command to spread by the sword the faith”.

The pope has since expressed regret following massive protests across the Muslim world, including a march by 2,000 people in downtown Gaza City on Friday.

However in Turkey, a government member, Mehmet Aydin, said the Pope seemed to be saying he was sorry for the outrage, but not necessarily for the remarks themselves. “You either have to say ‘I’m sorry’ in a proper way or not say it at all,” he said.