“The keynote address of the Cardinal President says the final communiqué of the permanent Episcopal Council held in Pisa from 24 to 27 September – gave voice to the reflection and concern of the Bishops and of Italian Catholics in response to the unprecedented and totally unexpected terrorist act of 11 September, which stunned the American nation and profoundly affected the scenario of international relations and the life of peoples, with significant repercussions also on social life, and on values and mores, both collective and personal. The Cardinal President, apart from solidarity with the American people, expressed a clear ‘condemnation of the perpetrators and instigators of the massacres and those who had deliberately supported or protected them'”. The Bishops’ plea, reiterated in the Council’s final communiqué, is that “ the ways of peace, truth and justice be pursued. And that means, in the present circumstance, ‘combating and neutralizing, as far as possible, international terrorism and those who, at whatever level, become its promoters or defenders’. This action must be promoted without indiscriminate retaliation and, at the same time, by “striving to remove the motivations and sources of grievance that may fuel terrorism or give rise to it”. In this context the Council reaffirmed the urgent need for a negotiated settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Holy Land. The Bishops also urge that “the violent fundamentalism of some Islamic groups not be identified with the Moslem religion and reaffirm that fanaticism and hatred have different roots that those of true religion. The necessary prerequisite for fruitful dialogue and reciprocal respect between the various religious experiences, without ingenuousness and conciliation at all costs, consists – says the final communiqué – of joint commitment to real religious freedom”.
