Pope urges for calm in Pakistan after Bhutto's assassination

(Dec. 28, 2007) Pope Benedict XVI on Friday called for calm in Pakistan after the assassination of the nation’s former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, which he called a "brutal terrorist attack". The Pope’s sentiments were expressed by Vatican Secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone who sent a condolence telegram on behalf of the Pope to Archbishop Lawrence Saldhana of Lahore, the president of the Pakistan's Catholic Bishops' Conference. The Holy Father expressed "sentiments of deep sympathy and spiritual closeness to the members of her family and to the entire Pakistan nation". "He prays that further violence will be avoided and that every effort will be made to build a climate of respect and trust, which are so necessary if good order is to be maintained in a society and if the country's political institutions are to operate effectively," the message read.
Bhutto, the leader of the major opposition Pakistan People’s Party, PPP, was buried on Friday after her assassination in Rawalpindi on Thursday by a suicide attacker at a rally ahead of a Jan. 8 election. She served as Pakistan's Prime Minister twice between 1988 and 1996.
Earlier Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi said, "We share the sadness of the Pakistani population." The assassination, he said, "is a cause of sadness in itself and because it is another sign of continuing violence, which makes it difficult to see how the Pakistani people, already suffering, will be able to find peace." Bishop Anthony Lobo of Islamabad- Rawalpindi, secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Pakistan, condemned the “dastardly act” as ‘a terrible tragedy for Pakistan." He described Bhutto as "an extraordinary, brave woman," who was “aware of the great danger to her life. Yet, she went around to assert democracy and laid down her life in the process."