Pope Sends Condolences for Attack on Italian Consulate in Cairo

ZENIT.org || Staff Reporter || 13 July 2015

Pope Francis has firmly condemned the terrorist attack early Saturday against the Italian Consulate in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. 

This sentiment was expressed in a telegram to the president of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Abdel Fatteh Al Sisi, sent by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, on the Pontiff's behalf, the same day.

According to BBC, militants of Islamic State have claimed responsibility for the car bomb explosion that severely damaged the Italian consulate in Egypt's capital, Cairo, killing at least one person and injuring several others. According to the health minister, policemen and civilians were among the injured. The explosion almost completely destroyed the building's main entrance, shattering windows, and flooding the building after water-pipes had ruptured.

The Pope's telegram began by saying he learned of this terrorist act in Cairo with "great concern" and that the Pope "raises his firm condemnation against such acts."

"The Pope calls on political and religious actors at all levels to work together to fight, with even more determination, the scourge of terrorism and to promote harmony and solidarity," it added.

The message concluded with the Holy Father expressing his deepest sympathy to all those affected by the indiscriminate violence, especially the affected families. It also assured the faithful of his prayers, offering consolation, and imploring "an abundance of divine blessings on all the Egyptian people."