An emotional, prayerful Bishop Gerhard Feige of Magdeburg spoke out about the attack on the Christmas market in his episcopal city.
Newsroom (21/12/2024 19:38, Gaudium Press) Last Friday evening, December 20, a vehicle drove at high speed into the crowd at the Christmas market in the city center of Magdeburg, Germany. The authorities believe it was a terrorist attack. The suspect, a 50-year-old man from Saudi Arabia who has lived in Germany for 18 years and works as a psychiatric doctor, has been arrested. It is unknown how the vehicle entered the market despite the barriers and the security perimeter. Five people were killed, with more than 200 injured, the head of the regional government, Reiner Haseloff, announced on Saturday.
“Precisely in these days and on the eve of a festival in which the message of God’s love, human dignity, and the longing for a healthy world particularly move us, such an act is all the more shocking and regrettable,” the bishop told the German Catholic News Agency (KNA). “My thoughts turn to the people affected, their families, and the emergency services, and I include them in my prayers.”
At the same time, Gerhard Feige believes that society also has a role to play in light of this attack. It must oppose extremism more firmly and commit itself even more to peaceful coexistence. The parish priest of Magdeburg Cathedral, Father Daniel Rudloff, reported that emergency teams were on the scene. He added that Magdeburg’s St. Sebastian Cathedral will be open and offer a space for gathering.
The president of the German Bishops’ Conference and the president of the Protestant Church Council in Germany (EKD), Kirsten Fehrs, expressed their astonishment in a joint statement on Saturday: “As churches, we mourn together with the families of the victims for this terrible attack and pray for the injured and deceased, as well as for their relatives who now grieve for their loved ones. Many innocent people were victims of this senseless violence just before Christmas”.
This attack is reminiscent of the one on Berlin’s Christmas market almost exactly eight years ago. On December 19, 2016, a Muslim man, Anis Amri, drove a stolen truck into several people, killing 13 and injuring 67.
Compiled by Dominic Joseph
