HOLY FATHER'S GRIEF OVER DEATH OF ITALIAN SOLDIERS IN KABUL

VATICAN CITY, 18 SEP 2009 (VIS) - Benedict XVI yesterday expressed his grief at the death of six Italian soldiers, members of the "Folgore" parachute regiment, in a bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, which also caused the deaths of fifteen other people.

  The Holy Father gave assurances of his prayers for the victims and expressed his "closeness to the families and to everyone involved", declared Holy See Press Office Director Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J.

  "What causes most sorrow", Fr. Lombardi went on, "is the continuation of such violence against the very people who are working for peace. ... We hope that all this bloodshed may, in the end, give way to the peace to which so many people are committed and are giving their lives".
OP/KABUL ATTACK/LOMBARDI                     VIS 20090918 (140)