Basque bishop demands total end to separatist violence

Published: 2007-08-21

MADRID, Spain (CNS) -- The Basque bishop who heads the Spanish bishops' conference has demanded the immediate disbandment of the Basque separatist group ETA, while another bishop from the region called for patience and tolerance. "ETA's stubborn existence is intolerable -- this terrorist band, which acts against the will of society, should immediately, totally and definitively disappear," said Bishop Ricardo Blazquez Perez of Bilbao, president of the Spanish bishops' conference. "Once again, sadly, we have to give voice during this feast to a terrible burden weighing for decades on our society. "Let us unite efforts to eradicate the terrorist violence which has so destructively influenced the life of our country," Bishop Blazquez said during Mass Aug. 15, the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Bilbao's Our Lady of Begona Basilica. The Madrid daily El Pais printed the homily. Meanwhile, Bishop Juan Uriarte Goiricelaya of San Sebastian called for a "peaceful, supportive and tolerant society," but said both sides should also "trim their legitimate aspirations."

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