Pope raps beheading

[emad]

VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI yesterday offered condolences to the families of three Christian teenagers who were beheaded in Indonesia at the weekend in what he deplored as "barbaric murder," according to his spokesman.

"When he learned the sad news of the barbaric murder of three Christian girls in Indonesia", the pope asked Indonesian Bishop Joseph Theodorus Suwatan to "present the most sincere condolences to the families of the victims and to the diocese," spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said in a statement.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church will pray "for the return of peace between these peoples."

Indonesian police increased patrols yesterday in the Poso area, plagued by sectarian violence for years, where the teenagers were found decapitated on Saturday.

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=125716&Sn=WORL&IssueID=28225

[emad]

1. Times coverage:

Vatican anger at beheaded girls



The Vatican called the beheading of three Indonesian girls from a Christian high school a barbaric act and said that the Pope was praying for peace among the people of the region.

Unidentified assailants attacked a group of girls from a private Christian school in the tense province of Central Sulawesi, beheading three and seriously wounding another. Police said that one of the heads was left in front of a new Christian church and the others near a police station.

Joaquín Navarro-Valls, the Vatican spokesman, said: “The Holy Father charged Monsignor Joseph Theodorus Suwatan, the Bishop of Manado, to offer his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and the diocesan community.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1850703,00.html

[leesa]

2. He prefers drawing and quartering.

[toopers]

3. How long before we find out the religious beliefs of the murderers?

EOM

[Nihil]

4. Lost in translation?

The attackers had heard their priest talking about how good it was
to get head from a young girl ...