Prague, Jan 4 (CTK) – About 40 people attended yesterday’s mass in the St Charles Borromeo Church in Prague, held in commemoration of the victims of the December terrorist attack in Berlin, including a Czech woman.
During the mass, which was said in Czech and German, the participants expressed sorrow at the death of 12 people, compassion with their families and the hope that people in the world will strive for peace and refuse violence.
The mass was attended by Christiane Markert, the German charge d’affaires and interim head of the German embassy.
The preacher said there is no way to return the dead to life, but their remembering may be a way to call for violence to be stopped.
The words by Pope Francis, who called on people in his New Year message to overcome their thirst for vengeance and seek a world free of violence, were cited during the mass, as was his condemnation of violence committed in the name of faith.
A terrorist drove with a truck into a Christmas market crowd in central Berlin on December 19, killing 12 people and injuring dozens of others.
The attacker, Tunisian Anis Amri, was shot dead by the police near Milan, Italy, on December 23.
