Pope condemns Palestinian suicide bombing on Jerusalem bus

Published: 2004-02-23

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II condemned a Palestinian suicide bombing that killed eight passengers on a Jerusalem bus and injured 60 others. A telegram sent in the pope's name urged a rejection of the "absurd dynamic" of terrorist violence. The papal telegram was made public Feb. 22, a few hours after the Sunday-morning blast. "The Holy Father expresses his firm condemnation of the new, brutal attack carried out in Jerusalem," it said. "In assuring his spiritual closeness to the victims and relatives, he urges the authorities and citizens not to allow themselves to be dragged into the absurd dynamic of violence, but to intensify their efforts to hasten the arrival of much-desired peace," it said.

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