Benedict XVI sends telegrams of condolences to Cardinal Vicar Camillo Ruini and Bishop Luigi Padovese, Apostolic Vicar of Anatolia.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) May Fr Andrea Santoro's blood, spilt in the "courageous testimony of the Gospel of charity", "become seeds of hope for building true brotherhood among peoples": this is the hope expressed by Benedict XVI in a telegram of condolences sent to Cardinal Camillo Ruini, his Vicar for Rome. The Pope also expressed "steadfast disapproval for all forms of violence" in another message addressed to the Apostolic Vicar of Anatolia, Bishop Luigi Padovese.
"Profoundly stricken" by the death of Fr Santoro, "killed at Trabson in Turkey while he was absorbed in prayer," Benedict XVI expressed to the Cardinal Vicar his "heartfelt sharing in the grief of the entire Church of Rome for the grave loss of such an esteemed and zealous Fidei donum priest and, in the hope," the Pope continued, " that the blood he spilt becomes the seed of hope for building true brotherhood among peoples, I raise fervid prayers of suffrage for this courageous witness of the Gospel of charity and impart my heartfelt and comforting apostolic blessing to his relatives, in particular his elderly mother, so deeply tried, and those who lament his violent death."
In the telegram to Bishop Padovese, Benedict XVI wrote that Fr Andrea Santoro "carried out his ministry in Turkey with generosity and apostolic zeal in favour of the Gospel and in service to the needy and the outcast" and that he wished to send "in this sorrowful moment the expression of my particular closeness to the local Christian community, reaffirming my steadfast disapproval of all forms of violence."