South Korean church leaders offer sympathy to Virginia Tech victims

Published: 2007-04-19

SEOUL, South Korea (CNS) -- Catholic leaders in South Korea offered their condolences to the family members and victims of the recent shooting rampage at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. "We Korean bishops feel great shock and pain, especially (because) this incident was done by a Korean young man," the bishops' conference said in an April 18 statement obtained by UCA News, an Asian church news agency. They also warned against the tragedy leading to further violence or revenge against innocent people in the U.S. "It should not create ethnic conflicts or prejudice," said the bishops. They said they regretted that they "couldn't fulfill (their) duty to help people realize the importance of life that God has given us as a gift." In an April 19 letter to Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo of Richmond, Va., the diocese in which Blacksburg is located, Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jinsuk of Seoul said that all Koreans, including Catholics, are "very much shocked and in deepest sorrow."

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