Vatican calls hostage killing 'inhumane act,' decries rising violence

Published: 2004-04-16

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The increased violence in Iraq, including the first confirmed death of a foreign hostage, triggered harsh criticism from the Vatican. The April 14 death of an Italian security guard was "an inhumane act that reflects the abyss of violence" in Iraq, said the front-page headline of the April 16 edition of the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano. The article said that the use of force had not been "effective so far," and pressure is increasing on the "international community to find credible ways out of an increasingly more serious crisis," which the paper described as an "endless barbarity." The U.S.-led coalition said more than 40 foreigners from 12 countries have been kidnapped by Iraqi militants. Some have been released, but the execution of the Italian hostage marked the first time a hostage was killed. The militant group that calls itself the Green Battalion has threatened to kill the other three Italian hostages.

Copyright (c) 2004 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .