Pope Francis has condemned the terrorist attack at the Paris offices of the satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, and this morning during Mass prayed for the 12 people who died in the shooting.
Four of the magazine's well-known cartoonists, including its editor-in-chief, were among those killed, as well as two police officers, when masked gunmen opened fire.
The Pope said the horrific attack “sowed death”, “deeply disturbing all peace-loving people, far beyond the borders of France.”
“Whatever may be the motivation, homicidal violence is abominable. It is never justifiable. The life and dignity of all are to be guaranteed and protected with decision. Every incitement to hatred should be refuted. Respect must be cultivated,” he said.
He also sent a telegram to the Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, promising his prayers for the bereaved “and the sadness of all the French”.
At Mass this morning at the Domus Sancta Marthae, where he lives, Pope Francis prayed not only for the victims of the attack, but added: "We pray also for the perpetrators of such cruelty, that the Lord might change their heart."
Yesterday the Vatican said in a statement that the shootings, in which seven people were also injured, were a “double act of violence, abominable because it is both an attack against people as well as against freedom of the press”.
The masked attackers opened fire with assault rifles in the office and exchanged shots with police in the street outside before escaping in a car they later abandoned. Witnesses said the gunmen shouted "we have avenged the Prophet Muhammad," according to the BBC. A major police operation was under way to find three gunmen who fled by car.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, called the attack "demonic" on Wednesday evening, in a Twitter message sent in French and English.
#JeSuisCharlie the response to such demonic violence is love for those who suffer and virtuous action against evil
— Justin Welby (@JustinWelby) January 7, 2015
Meanwhile the Church of England has released special prayers for the victims.
“Compassionate God and Father of all, we are horrified at violence in so many parts of the world. It seems that none are safe, and some are terrified,” one opens.
The French bishops issued a statement, expressing their “profound emotion and horror”. President François Hollande said there was no doubt it had been a terrorist attack "of exceptional barbarity".
The magazine’s offices were firebombed in 2011 after the publication of cartoons depicting Muhammad.
The bishops’ statement today went on: “The barbarism expressed in these murders hurts us all.”
The Union of Islamic Organisations of France condemned the murders "in the strongest terms”. Dalil Boubaker, rector of Paris’ Grand Mosque and President of the French Council of the Muslim Faith, also described the attack as "barbaric” and "an attack against democracy and freedom of the press".
The attacks took place on the same day that the French bishop responsible for interfaith dialogue, Mgr Michel Dubost, along with four senior imams with whom he was engaged in discussions, met Pope Francis at his audience as part of three days of meetings in Rome.
The Pope greeted Tareq Oubrou, rector of the Bordeaux mosque, Mohammed Moussaoui, President of the Union of French Mosques, Azzedine Gaci, rector of the mosque in Villeurbanne, and Djelloul Seddiki, director of the Institute of Théologie of Paris’ Grand Mosque.
He shook their hands warmly, exchanged a few words with each of them and gave them each a small box containing a rosary, AFP reported.
Mgr Dubost said: "In a world that loves the spectacle of violence, it is good to show the good relations that are developing in France between the majority of Muslims and the majority of Christians. The visit of these great Muslim leaders to Rome is a sign of this.”
Above: A distressed woman is assisted by firefighters after a shooting at the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo. Photo: CNS photo/Christian Hartman, Reuters
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