Bishops call for unity after deadly attacks in Germany and Austria

CNA Newsroom, Feb 18, 2025 / 11:05 am

Bishops in Germany and Austria have reacted to separate, deadly attacks that have shaken both countries, with Archbishop Franz Lackner of Salzburg describing the violence as “bloodthirsty, godless terror.”

In Villach, Austria, a 14-year-old Austrian boy was killed Saturday, Feb. 15, by a 23-year-old Syrian asylum seeker in what authorities have classified as an Islamist attack. Five others were injured in the incident.

In a separate incident on Thursday, Feb. 13, in Munich, Germany, a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker drove a vehicle into a crowd attending a labor union demonstration. Thirty-seven people were injured, including children. A 37-year-old mother and her 2-year-old child later succumbed to their injuries.

Urging solidarity over division, the president of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference wrote on social media that the brutality witnessed in both Villach and Munich “has no nationality, no face, and no skin color,” reported CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language partner agency.

Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising led an interfaith memorial service Monday evening at Munich’s Cathedral of Our Lady. “We stand here today speechless in the face of this terrible act of violence,” the cardinal said during the service, which drew together representatives from multiple faiths.

The German prelate emphasized that the Cathedral of Our Lady should serve as “a house for all Munich citizens, especially for the frightened, the threatened, the injured, the doubting, and those seeking comfort.” 

The cardinal noted that the memory of the victims “will never fade, their light continues to shine among us” as candles were lit for the deceased mother and child, CNA Deutsch reported. 

Bavarian Minister President Markus Söder and Munich’s Mayor Dieter Reiter also addressed the gathering at the conclusion of the service.

The attacks have intensified debates over immigration and security in Austria and Germany. The politically contentious issues have also highlighted divisions within the Church in Germany, where voters will head to the polls for federal elections on Feb. 23.