Scottish Catholic Observer

The Vatican has called for prayers to be offered for the victims of the terrorist attack in Nice, with the Vatican condemning the violence as an attack against peace.

Speaking the morning after the attack, in which a lorry ploughed into crowds of people celebrating Bastille Da, Fr Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, said: “We have followed during the night, with the greatest concern, the terrible news which has come from Nice.

“We want to make known, on the part of Pope Francis and ourselves, our sharing and solidarity in the suffering of the victims and all the French people, in what was supposed to be a great day of celebration

“We condemn in an absolute manner every manifestation of homicidal folly, hatred, terrorism, and attacks against peace.”

As the death toll rose to 84, with dozens more injured – many of them seriously – President Fancoise Hollande extended France’s present stae of emergency for another three months, and confirmation came from Britsh Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson that one Briton was among the dead.

News of the attack brought uncertainly for those in France, among them members of the archdiocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes from Edinburgh and St Andrew’s, who were preparing to return home this morning.

Speaking from Lourdes, Archbishop Leo Cushley of St Andrew’s and Edinburgh called for greater mercy in the world, saying, “As we leave Lourdes, we wake up this morning to news of the atrocity in Nice. Our prayers and our thoughts are with the families and friends of those who were killed – and we are reminded of the ever greater need for mercy in our world,”

President Hollande sounded a defiant note when he spoke, telling of France’s strength in the face of such attacks.

“France was hit on the day of her national holiday, the 14th of July, the symbol of liberty, because the rights of man are denied by fanatics and France is inevitably their target,” he said.

“It is clear that we must do everything we can to fight against the scourge of terrorism. France is strong and she will always be stronger, I assure you, than the fanatics.”