Retired Vatican official condemns ideology behind suicide bombings

Published: 2004-01-16

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- An ideology that could push a mother of two young children to kill others in a suicide bombing must be based on something truly inhumane, said a retired top official at Vatican Radio. Speaking Jan. 15 on Vatican Radio's One-O-Five Live channel, Cardinal Roberto Tucci, former president of Vatican Radio's management committee and a former papal trip organizer, commented on what turned out to be the first female Palestinian suicide bomber from the Hamas militant group. The 22-year-old woman set off explosives strapped to her body at a Gaza Strip border crossing into Israel Jan. 14, killing herself and four Israeli security personnel. "This attack in Erez makes me think there is a truly inhumane ideology behind it, something that could succeed in penetrating the mind of a young mother -- someone who should be in favor of life -- and instead make her an instrument of the death of innocent civilians," said Cardinal Tucci.

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