Shooting Near Cathedral Square in Erfurt, Germany Not Thought to Be Related to Papal Visit
The initial reports of the shooting were that a guard had been shot near the edge of the security zone. Over 30,000 people had gathered to hear Pope Benedict’s morning mass in Cathedral Square in Erfurt, Germany.
However, later reports were that the gunman had fired at a security guard with an airgun. The man and the gun were seized by police and the guard received only a slight injury. The gun was fired from the man’s flat and it happened several kilometers from Cathedral Square.
The shooting happened an hour before Mass and on the edge of the security area that was set up. The pope was scheduled to fly to Freiburg to give another open air mass tomorrow. A spokesman for the Vatican, Reverend Federico Lombardi, said that there was “no worry” over the incident in the papal entourage.
One of the reasons for the Pope’s visit to Germany is an effort to stop the loss of thousands of people from the Catholic Church. Many of the people leaving the religion are doing so because of the hundreds of young people and children that have been abused by church employees and clergy.
The Vatican said earlier this week that the Pope expressed “deep compassion and regret” for the suffering of those who had been accused. The Vatican also said that the Church wants to have “effective measures to protect children.” Pope Benedict has been accused by lawyers of victims and victims’ advocate groups of covering up the abuse.
The sermon that Pope Benedict gave at the mass in Erfurt focused on whether the collapse of communism in East Germany had given way to a rise in religious faith even though the church could operate without fear of reprisal.
He said to the huge gathering, “Are not the deep roots of faith and Christian life to be sought in something very different from social freedom. It was actually amid the hardships of pressure from without that many committed Catholics remained faithful to Christ and to the church.”
