Vatican City (dpa) – The Vatican condemned a Christmas Day attack on a church in Nigeria, with Pope Benedict XVI's spokesman describing it as the fruit of “cruelty and blind hatred.” Father Federico Lombardi was commenting on reports that at least 26 people had been killed in a suspected bomb blast at a church near the West African country's capital, Abuja. “Unfortunately, it is yet again the manifestation of cruelty and a blind and absurd hatred which has no respect for human life,” Lombardi said. “We are close to the suffering of the (Catholic) Church (in Nigeria) and to the whole Nigerian population, which is enduring terrorist violence in these days that should be of joy and peace,” Lombardi said. The spokesman said he hoped the violence would not “weaken a willingness for peaceful coexistence and dialogue” in Nigeria. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/n1HSc Tags: Attack, Bombing, Church, Nigeria, Vatican Section: Latest News, West Africa
