Terrorism

Belgium: funeral service in Liege for the two killed policewomen. Mgr. Delville (Bishop), “don’t let yourselves be drowned by fear and hatred, be makers of the peace”

“Don’t let yourselves be drowned by feelings of fear and hatred, of resignation, be makers of the peace”. This was said this morning by monsignor Jean-Pierre Delville, Bishop of Liege, in greeting the relatives, colleagues and the political and civilian authorities of Belgium who attended the funeral service for Lucile Garcia and Soraya Belkacemi, the two policewomen killed by a man last Tuesday. The Bishop thanked the many policemen in attendance for the courage they showed last week in their attempt to keep the city safe. He also sent a special thought to Mrs Darifa Imankaf, a Muslim and a clerk at the Municipality of Liege, who “managed to restrain the terrorist for a long while, thus preventing him committing an ever greater massacre”. Today, the task that all the community of Liege is charged with – mgr. Delville said – is to “oppose to any further development of hatred” and to get out of this tragedy “more mature inside and even more motivated to build tomorrow’s society in friendship”.
Lucile Garcia and Soraya Belkacemi were Christian and best friends. Today’s Christians’ mission – the Bishop pointed out in his sermon – is “building connections among people and steering clear of confusion. We know that, if Islam has been invoked as the reason to kill, it is because it has been manipulated and held hostage by terrorists and violent people. So, we must help Islam get rid of such manipulative and perverted interpretations, by promoting dialogue and friendship all the time”. “Of course, sometimes we feel overwhelmed or powerless”. But “God fills the gaps of our love and pushes us further than we think we can go”.