Vatican condemns murder of Christians in Turkey as "act of madness"

Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Germany
April 20, 2007 Friday

The Vatican condemned Friday the murder of three Christians in
Turkey as "an act of madness and the monstrous invention of a fanatic
minority."

"Martyrdom is continuing in our times," said Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone,
who is the Vatican’s secretary of state.

He stressed that the crime did not endanger the rapport reached during
the papal visit last December in Turkey.

The suspected murderers of three Christians in Turkey have confessed
to their attack on a Christian publishing house in the town

of Malatya, Turkish media reported Thursday.

Ten people had been arrested in connection with the stabbing murders
on Wednesday. Four of them were suspected of the killings.

According to Turkish media, the attackers had religious and nationalist
motives.

The stabbings are the latest in a string of attacks on Christians
in Turkey.

In February 2006, a teenager shot dead an Italian priest in the Black
Sea city of Trabzon and earlier this year Turkish nationalists killed
the Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

Apr 2007 1241 GMT