Pope condemns Northern Ireland murders

The family of the Polish pizza delivery man wounded on Saturday night in Antrim, Northern Ireland, have announced that he is recovering well.

They also said ‘There have been many attempts made by the national and international media to seek interviews with us. While we thank all the media networks for their concern and interest, we want to stress that we have firmly decided to decline all media interviews’.

The name of the Polish man, 31 and the father of a 16-month-old son, hasn’t been revealed. He and his 19-year-old companion, local man Anthony Watson were wounded as they delivered pizza to Sappers Mark Quinsey and Patrick Azimkar of the 38 Engineers Regiment of the British Army, who, though unarmed, were murdered by members of the Real IRA (Irish Republican Army).

Vigils were held in a number of centres across Northern Ireland yesterday to protest the murders of the two young soldiers and that of 48-year-old Constable Stephen Carroll (in photo) of the Police Service of Northern Ireland murdered on Monday night by members of the Continuity IRA. Vandals destroyed some of the floral tributes to the murdered policeman, as if to highlight the utter evil of his murder.

At his general audience yesterday Pope Benedict said It was with deep sorrow that I learned of the murders of two young British soldiers and a policeman in Northern Ireland. As I assure the families of the victims and the injured of my spiritual closeness, I condemn in the strongest terms these abominable acts of terrorism which, apart from desecrating human life, seriously endanger the ongoing peace process in Northern Ireland and risk destroying the great hopes generated by this process in the region and throughout the world. I ask the Lord that no one will again give in to the horrendous temptation of violence and that all will increase their efforts to continue building – through the patient effort of dialogue – a peaceful, just and reconciled society.