Pope expresses concern over violence, killings in Ivory Coast

Published: 2004-11-08

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II said he was deeply concerned about a new eruption of violence in Ivory Coast, where nine French soldiers and a U.S. civilian were killed in early November. The pope made the remarks before praying the Angelus from his apartment window above St. Peter's Square Nov. 7. The same day, Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo appealed for calm after two days of anti-French riots. The pope said he wanted to express his "worry at the serious news coming from Ivory Coast, where violence is creating new victims." He said, "May weapons fall silent, may peace accords be respected, may there be a return to the path of dialogue. I entrust the people of the country to Mary, Queen of Peace." The hostilities erupted when a two-year-old ceasefire between government and rebel forces broke down, and government forces launched air attacks against rebel positions. The French and U.S. victims died in a government bombing of the rebel-held town of Bouake.

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