(Vatican Radio) On the last day of his visit to Turkey, Pope Francis has condemned the Friday 28 November, bomb attack on a busy Mosque in Kano, northern Nigeria.
Pope Francis was speaking at the end of a joint Liturgical prayer service which he held with the Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew I. The Istanbul-based Bartholomew I is the leader of many of the world's Orthodox Christians. The Liturgical service (Divina Liturgia) for thanksgiving and peace was held at the Orthodox Church of St. George in Istanbul, Turkey.
At the end of the Liturgy, Pope Francis told the world to rid itself of indifference towards the poor; hungry; disillusioned youth without jobs and many of the world's victims of conflict. In light of the message of the Gospel, he spoke of the need to overcome structures of poverty that continue to make create so much suffering in the world. Speaking in Italian, Pope Francis said, the world is called to defeat the "the globalisation of indifference." Then he went on to describe the bombing and attack on the Mosque in Kano as an "extremely grave sin against God."
On Friday, a bomb exploded when two suicide bombers blew themselves up and three gunmen then opened fire on worshippers during weekly prayers at the Grand Mosque of Kano. Several reports say at least 120 people were killed and 270 others were wounded in the attack blamed on Boko Haram Islamic insurgents.
Boko Haram has no regard for traditional Islamic leaders of Nigeria. The Mosque that was attacked is near the palace of the influential Moslem leader, the emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. At the time of the attack, the emir was said to out of the country. Only recently he had called upon Northerners to arm and defend themselves against Boko Haram and not wait for the security forces.
Pope Francis returns to Rome this evening after a three day visit to Turkey. Among the most memorable gestures of this visit will be that of Pope Francis bowing, in a sign of great humility, to Bartholomew I and asking for a blessing from the Ecumenical Patriarch -blessing said Pope Francis, "for me and the Church of Rome."
(Fr. Paul Samasumo)
e-mail: engafrica@vatiradio.va
(from Vatican Radio)