Germany massacre: the Turkish Catholic Bishops’ mourning. Mgr. Bizzeti (apostolic vicar of Anatolia), “a climate of hatred and contempt leads to tragic consequences”

(from Bari) “My thoughts go to the victims, to their friends, to their families and to the nations they come from. I join in prayer for this great loss”. Words laden with emotion and “deep solidarity with the Turkish population” are those said by mgr. Paolo Bizzeti, apostolic vicar of Anatolia, about what happened in the night at Hanau, Germany, where a far right young man killed 11 people, targeting the bars that are known to be popular with the Turkish community. “Many questions arise”, mgr. Bizzeti says to SIR, during the meeting of CEI (Italian Bishops’ Conference) about the Mediterranean region that opened in Bari. “Why such stupid, evil, inexcusable violence bursts out like this? We should look for in-depth answers to such questions. One cannot just say that the murderer was a madman. A climate of hatred, of mutual contempt, of verbal violence has been created that in the long run almost inevitably leads to such tragic consequences”. What is most striking about Bari is the verb “exterminate” that the killer used to explain the reason for the massacre that has taken Europe back to a past of war and extermination. “Unfortunately, in the last few years, in Germany, in Italy, in Europe, such past is making a comeback”, the bishop points out, “and there are those who play it down while it is instead the sign that the memory of what happened is going lost. For 70 years, Europe has experienced peace, but peace needs to be cherished and defended down to the end”. And he adds: “For years, the bishops of the Mediterranean region have been reporting that problems cannot be solved by rejection, by criminalising people who flee death, violence, injustice and poverty. Over these years, the voice of the Church has been prophetic: we have always said that things should be toned down; we have always asked to understand the causes and the fact that welcoming people involves an extra bit of intelligence, not just one of goodness should always be taken seriously”.
Valentina Bombelli