ROME, SEPT. 25, 2001 (Zenit.org).- The head of the Italian bishops´ conference said he believes it is a «duty» to neutralize international terrorism with force if necessary. But he emphasized that the principal reaction must be directed at overcoming the reasons that triggered the attacks.
Addressing the bishops´ Permanent Commission in Pisa on Monday, Cardinal Camillo Ruini said that it is «indispensable that this right-duty be exercised not only through a recourse to arms — which must always be as limited as possible, without indiscriminate reprisals — but also and primarily by mobilizing to remove the motives and nuclei that fuel terrorism.»
Cardinal Ruini said that the countries that are traditionally close and sympathetic to the United States must not leave that nation alone in its just response to the Sept. 11 attacks.
«In this connection, the principal knot that remains to be unraveled is that of the Holy Land and the Arab-Israeli conflict,» he said.
After 50 years of hostilities there, he said, it should be clear that the problem will only be overcome with «a negotiation that keeps in mind the rights and needs of each one, and that seeks to give them an answer in the most just way possible.»
Cardinal Ruini also explained that, when it comes to combating terrorism, «it is necessary not to fall into simplifications and generalizations, which would have harmful, lasting effects at a globalized level.»
He said violent extremism, present in some Muslim populations, must not be confused with Islam.
