Pope Francis has expressed the “deepest feelings of horror and condemnation” after a massacre at a Florida nightclub that killed at least 49 people and injured 53 more.
The Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said in a statement that the Pontiff denounced the “senseless hatred” of the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning. “The terrible massacre that has taken place in Orlando, with its dreadfully high number of innocent victims, has caused in Pope Francis, and in all of us, the deepest feelings of horror and condemnation, of pain and turmoil before this new manifestation of homicidal folly and senseless hatred,” he said.
“Pope Francis joins the families of the victims and all of the injured in prayer and in compassion. Sharing in their indescribable suffering, he entrusts them to the Lord so they may find comfort.”
He added: “We all hope that ways may be found, as soon as possible, to effectively identify and contrast the causes of such terrible and absurd violence which so deeply upsets the desire for peace of the American people and of the whole of humanity.”
Omar Mateen, 29, has been named as the perpetrator of the attack on the gay nightclub. He was killed by members of the police SWAT team that entered the building.
Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, president of the US Catholic Bishops’ Conference, said: “Waking up to the unspeakable violence in Orlando reminds us of how precious human life is.”
He added: “Our prayers are with the victims, their families and all those affected by this terrible act.”
Lahore parish increases security after gun attacks
Christians in Lahore are increasing security measures following a recent shooting at a Catholic church in the Punjab capital.
Two gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on the main door of St Joseph Church, in the city’s Dhup Sarri Christian neighbourhood, in the early hours of Saturday.
Nobody was hurt in the incident, which caused minor damage to the church and a nearby school.
Police have launched a manhunt for the gunmen and placed the church under 24-hour guard. They say they have yet to establish a motive for the attack.
“Perhaps the culprits meant to stoke sectarian tensions in the area. Damaging a place of worship is wicked,” Iqbal Hasan, a police officer, told Ucanews.com.
In response to the attack, local Christians said they could not rely on police to protect them and are preparing their own security measures.
Fr Asif Sardar, the parish’s assistant pastor, said measures included an improved closed-circuit television surveillance, using armed guards and installing security barriers around the church.
‘See the faces of those suffering’
The key to ending extreme poverty and hunger is to recognise that behind every statistic, there is the face of a person who is suffering, Pope Francis has said. “Poverty has a face!” he said during a visit to the Rome headquarters of the UN’s World Food Programme. He said: “Without faces and stories, human lives become statistics and we run the risk of bureaucratising the sufferings of others.”
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