(from Bari) “At this time, filled with sympathy for what has happened, we are close to our German brothers and sisters: this hideous violence, this terrorist attack is deeply offensive to human dignity”. Card. Gualtiero Bassetti, President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), said this about the mass shootings that occurred in Hanau, in the German state of Hesse, last night. At around 10pm, a gunman opened fire targeting the bars favoured by the Turkish community. 9 people died, 4 were injured and are reported to be in critical conditions. The death toll, however, later rose to 11 after the attacker was found dead at his home along with the body of his mother. The gunman is a German citizen, a far-right extremist. Investigators found a message in which the attacker had stated that some peoples that can no longer be expelled from Germany must be annihilated. The news also reached the Italian city of Bari, where 58 bishops and delegates from 20 Bishops’ Conferences of the countries bordering the Mediterranean have been meeting since yesterday. “Those who sow hatred reap the same”, the Cardinal said, commenting on the alleged motivations behind last night’s shootings. And he added: “We are united, we are sympathetic, and I assure the prayers of the Italian Bishops and of the Bishops’ Conferences of all the Mediterranean countries gathered here in Bari”.