| Churches condemn Christian murders Fri, 20 Apr 2007 20:05:35 |
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The murder of three Christian evangelists in Turkey this week was condemned by the Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches on Friday. The three killed were members of an evangelist Protestant community who were tortured, questioned, and killed in the eastern Turkish town of Malatya. The churches called the murders a “mad act” and “a violation of religious freedoms”. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican’s secretary of state, said “I think all Turkish people have condemned this mad act, the work of a fanatical minority,” and referred to the victims as martyrs. The Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church on Friday condemned the murders and referred to the act as a “violation of religious freedoms”. The church also stated the killings might have religious and political motives behind them and referred to the murder of a Catholic priest and January’s killing of an Armenian journalist. Ten murder suspects were questioned by the police on Friday. |
