AFRICA/SOUTH AFRICA - Attack on a Mosque in Durban: strong condemnation of the South African Catholic Church

Friday, 11 May 2018 violence   dialogue  

Johannesburg (Agenzia Fides) - "We heard with great shock and sadness of the attack on the Imam Hussein Mosque in Verulam, Durban and the tragic killing of an imam and the injury of two other people", says a statement signed by His Exc. Bishop Stephen Brislin, Archbishop of Cape Town and President of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC), who strongly condemns the attack on the Imam Hussein Mosque in Verulam, Durban.
According to news sent to Agenzia Fides, yesterday, 10 May, three men entered the large mosque after midday prayers, carrying guns and attacking the victims with knives and then releasing a petrol bomb that set fire to the building. The iman died, while two other people were injured.
"On behalf of the Catholic Church in Southern Africa, we offer our deepest condolences and sympathy to the family and friends of the murdered imam, and wish the injured a speedy and full recovery", says the SACBC statement. "Our hearts go out to the community of the Imam Hussein Mosque who have been so brutally violated. You are in our thoughts and prayers".
"We strongly condemn this bloody and futile attack and call upon law enforcement agencies to work diligently to bring the perpetrators to justice. Religious tolerance has long been a characteristic of South African society and those who wish to wreak havoc, and set one faith community against another, must never be allowed to succeed. We will continue to pray for peace in our country and throughout the world, a peace that is based on respect for the dignity and rights of each human being",concludes Archbishop Brislin.
At the moment the police think it was not an act of terrorism, even if some witnesses say that the assailants are of Egyptian nationality. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 11/5/2018)


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