Vatican official says world must fix injustices that lead to violence

Published: 2007-10-09

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- If the world is going to win the war against terrorism, it needs to remedy the injustices that sometimes lead to violence, said a Vatican official. Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, head of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, said he did not wish to justify terrorist acts, "but one must recognize that terrorism grows in an environment where unresolved situations are present. Many times terrorism is nothing but the manifestation of a situation of injustice," he told Vatican Radio Oct. 9. The cardinal elaborated on comments he made in a message to the Muslim world denouncing terrorism and all violence committed in the name of religion. That written message, released by the Vatican Sept. 28, was to mark the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month of prayer and fasting that concludes in mid-October. He told Vatican Radio that overcoming terrorism demands looking for the reasons it crops up in the first place.

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