Catholic leaders across the world condemned the deadly ISIS terrorist attack in Barcelona Thursday, which killed 12 and injured 80, and offered prayers for the victims.
Pope Francis, Bishop José Gil Tamayo of the Spanish Bishops Conference, and Bishop Oscar Cantu of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) each issued statements shortly after the attack to offer their condolences and prayers for the victims and their families, according to Catholic News Agency. Tamayo tweeted his solidarity with the victims while Cantu and the Greg Burke of the Vatican press office issued official statements on behalf of the USCCB and Francis respectively.
“Once again, an act of terror has taken more than a dozen lives and injured scores of others. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops unequivocally condemns this morally heinous act and places itself in solidarity with the people of the Archdiocese of Barcelona and Spain at this terrible time of loss and grief,” said Cantu, chairman of the USCCB international justice and peace committee.
“Terrorist attacks on innocent civilians can never be justified. To directly attack innocent men, women and children is utterly reprehensible,” Cantu added.
La Conferencia Episcopal Española condena el atentado de Barcelona y expresa su solidaridad con las víctimas https://t.co/3WBh3BFgHj pic.twitter.com/XflNQFidIV
— José M. Gil Tamayo (@jmgilt) August 17, 2017
“The Holy Father has learned with great concern what is happening in Barcelona,” Burke’s statement read. “The Pope prays for victims of this attack and wishes to express his closeness to all the Spanish people, particularly the injured and families of the victims.”
The attack, in which terrorists plowed through crowds with a van in Las Ramblas district of Barcelona, is the deadliest terrorist act Spain has seen in over a decade.
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