VATICAN CITY, JAN. 1, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI urged Pakistan to build a climate of "trust and respect" in the wake of the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister of the nation.
Bhutto, 54, was killed Thursday evening in an attack after a campaign rally in Rawalpindi, which left 28 others dead. The assassination sparked violent clashes in the country that led to more deaths.
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Pope's secretary of state, sent a message Friday on the Holy Father's behalf to the president of Pakistan's episcopal conference, Archbishop Lawrence John Saldanha of Lahore. The letter said that the Pontiff considered the assassination a "brutal terrorist attack."
The note also expressed "sentiments of deep sympathy and spiritual closeness to the members of her family and to the entire Pakistani nation."
It added that Benedict XVI "prays that further violence will be avoided and that every effort will be made to build a climate of respect and trust, which are so necessary if good order is to be maintained in society and if the country's political institutions are to operate effectively."
