Corsica's bishop warns racist violence exceeds 'tolerable limits'

Published: 2005-01-05

OXFORD, England (CNS) -- Corsica's Catholic bishop warned that racist violence is exceeding "tolerable limits" on the French-ruled island, and he urged its perpetrators to stop "destroying society." "There's an army of shadows here which lacks the courage to debate openly," said Bishop Jean-Luc Brunin of Ajaccio. "Immigrants have been living and working in Corsica for almost 30 years. They can't reduce themselves to an object of your phobia and hatred," said the bishop. In an open letter published Jan. 3 in the Corse Matin daily, Bishop Brunin said an attempted Christmas Eve bombing of an immigrant shelter had shown new levels of "inhumanity and barbarism." "It doesn't take much for such clandestine actions to kill a society," added the bishop, who took charge of the diocese in July and who heads the French bishops' committee on migrants and travelers.

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