Pope recalls 1993 bombing at St. John Lateran
July 28, 2023
» Continue to this story on Vatican Press Office
CWN Editor's Note: Pope Francis sent a message of support to participants in a torchlight procession in Rome on July 28, marking the 30th anniversary of the bombing of the basilica of St. John Lateran and the church of San Giorgio al Velabro.
The bombings were part of a Mafia offensive, which also included bombs in the center of Milan and at the Uffizi Galleries in Florence. They were organized after the arrest of a Sicilian mob chieftain, Salvatore Riina, who was notorious for ordering the killing of law-enforcement officials and attacks on innocent women and children. Riina had been wanted on murder charges for more than twenty years before his arrest in January 1993.
In his message Pope Francis decried the bombings as a “cowardly gesture,” and said: “Today more than ever it is the duty of everyone to remember gratefully those who, in the fulfilment of their duty, sometimes risking their lives, devoted themselves to the protection of the community.”
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