Pope Benedict XVI received a group of Norwegian World Youth Day
pilgrims at the Cuatro Vientos airport on August 20, addressing them
with encouraging words following last month's terrorist attack.
“Norway, as we are all aware, suffered this tragedy that impacted the
whole world, during which many young people died,” Vatican Press Office
Director Father Federico Lombardi noted on August 20.
Fr. Lombardi said the Pope gave the pilgrims a “message of hope
and integration” in the aftermath of the violence that killed 77
people.
The address occured in the context of the vigil that took
place in the Cuatro Vientos airport, which opened its doors early in the
day to host the estimated 1.5 million people expected to attend the
concluding events of World Youth Day 2011.
Anders Behring Breivik, an opponent of European immigration and
multiculturalism, was responsible for the July 22 attacks in the
Norwegian capital of Oslo and the island of Utoya.