“In our firm condemnation of this attack, we acknowledge once again that terrorism represents a ‘structure of sin’ and we ask the Christian communities to remain close to the victims of terrorism and to their relatives”. These were the words of the Spanish bishops read by spokesperson msgr. Martínez Camino after the mortal attack by Eta terrorists in Capbreton in the South-western area of France where on Saturday December 1 a policeman was killed (guardia civil) and another was injured upon exiting a shopping centre. They were dressed in civilian clothes and were taking part in a surveillance operation coordinated by the French police. While they got into the car they were shot point-blank. The bishops asked to pray “for the conversion of terrorists and the interruption of violence, so that God may bestow wisdom and strength to governors in their deciding measures aimed at defeating terrorism”. The victim was Raúl Centino Pallón, he was 24, while Fernando Trapero aged 23, was wounded. They were not armed at the moment of the terrorist attack and were hit by three people holding guns. The Archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela, condemned the attack and reaffirmed “the urgent need for conscience awareness before the serious phenomenon of terrorism”.
