Pope offers condolences after attack that killed Chechen president

Published: 2004-05-11

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II offered his condolences for the victims of a bomb attack in the separatist Russian republic of Chechnya. In a telegram released by the Vatican May 11, the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, said the pope was "deeply saddened by the news of a serious attack on a stadium in Grozny that caused so many victims." Six people -- including the president of Chechnya, Akhmad Kadyrov -- were killed May 9 after a bomb exploded at the stadium in the republic's capital. At least 57 other people were injured. The pope "expresses his deep condolences to the family members and survivors," the telegram said.

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