For the second time in the past two days, Pope Francis issued another strong condemnation of Wednesday's terrorist attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, in which 12 people died.
Speaking at his private Mass in the Vatican’s Santa Marta residence on Thursday morning, the pope said: “Wednesday’s terror attack in Paris brings to mind so much cruelty – human cruelty – so much terrorism, both isolated [incidents of] terrorism and state terrorism . . . of how much cruelty is man capable. We pray, in this Mass, for the victims of this cruelty – so many of them – and we pray also for the perpetrators of such cruelty, that the Lord might change their heart.”
Later yesterday morning, Pope Francis met the Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, for an audience that had been arranged long before the Paris attack. It is assumed that the pope received a full account of the tragedy and its implications from Cardinal Vingt-Trois.
Security implications
Commentators have also speculated as to whether this latest outrage might have security implications for Pope Francis himself. Next week, he sets off on an eight-day visit to Sri Lanka and the Philippines, two countries that have experienced ethnic violence.
But despite Wednesday's attack, and terrorist threats made by Islamic fundamentalists against the pope since his election in March 2013, the Holy See does not intend to alter or tighten papal security significantly. Speaking to The Irish Times, papal spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said: "No, there will be no changes. At this point there are no particular reasons to be worried about [the Pope's safety]."
As always, the biggest concern for the Vatican gendarmerie relates to those occasions when the pope greets the hundreds of thousands who want to attend his Mass. On other visits, such as those to Brazil in 2013 or to the Holy Land last year, Pope Francis insisted on using an open-topped vehicle rather than the familiar covered, bulletproof popemobile.