Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, said we must respond to terrorism according to scripture, by not letting ourselves be overcome by evil, but overcoming evil with good.
His remarks were reported by L’Osservatore Romano in the newspaper’s Italian daily edition, August 28-29, 2017 edition. He spoke to journalists during a visit to Padua, the paper said.
Cardinal Parolin gave the example of the forgiving parents of Valeria Solesin and of Luca Russo, the two young people of Venice, victims of the attacks in Paris and in Barcelona. It reported his remarks: “I believe this is the right way to respond to the hatred that these terrorists express…And, in fact, in the reaction of grief that the families had of the two young people, victims of Venetian origin, we have a concrete example.”
These remarks align with Cardinal Parolin’s recent comments published by La Civilta Cattolica: The key words of the present pontificate are: to fight poverty, both material as well as spiritual; to make peace and to build bridges. In that interview he cited the spirit of explorer Ferdinand Magellan as having “a threefold dynamism of spirit: a restless sense, the humility of incompleteness and the courage of the imagination” that give the ability to “stay on the high seas, that is, ready to scrutinize a horizon in permanent change, without withdrawing to safe ports guaranteeing an apparent calm but which, in fact, impede taking up again courageously the long voyage of history.”
L’Osservatore Romano also reported Cardinal Parolin’s response to question about the plight of migrants: “It’s difficult to enter in individual situations, one doesn’t have the elements to do so, but here also the principle of solidarity applies. These situations must be addressed together. The more we isolate ourselves and the more we try to defend our own particular situation the more difficult it becomes to address them and resolve them in a just way.”
Cardinal Parolin also commented on the problem of unemployment: “It’s important today to be able to work: this is the essential topic that of work and employment, closely connected with a person’s dignity, because a person is fulfilled in work. If work is lacking, a person is deprived of this fundamental dimension.”
Cardinal Parolin recently explained the key words of the present pontificate: to fight poverty, both material as well as spiritual; to make peace and to build bridges.
He has also recently completed a diplomatic mission to Russia, during which he met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, and Russian President Vladimir Putin. During his Russian trip, Cardinal Parolin said Russia “has a particular responsibility in matters of peace.”
