The president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Angelo
Bagnasco, is urging the international community to ensure that religious
freedom is respected “in all places and without exception.”
The cardinal made his call during the Mass of the Epiphany on Jan. 6
at the Cathedral of San Lorenzo in Genoa, Italy.
He expressed his
astonishment at the recent acts of “religious intolerance and violence,”
as he reflected on the Dec. 31 attack on a Coptic Orthodox church in
Alexandria, Egypt, which left 21 dead and 79 injured.
In his homily, Cardinal Bagnasco said, “Perhaps Christians are
discriminated against and persecuted because they speak in the name of
Christ about the dignity and equality of every person … and because the
also preach love for one’s enemies.”
“Could this be the reason why some consider them dangerous and
unacceptable and that they are the objects of intolerance, persecution
and death?” he asked.
Cardinal Bagnasco called on Christians to pray for the eternal repose
of those killed in the attack in Egypt and that those responsible would
“open their eyes to the light.”
Christians, he said, should pray for
the faithful “who throughout the world are examples” of fidelity to
others.
SIC: CNA/EU-INT'L