After Brussels Terrorist Attack, Bishops of Belgium say "Our prayers and thoughts are with the innocent victims and their families....Let us be peacemakers more than ever.”
An extremist terrorist attack in Brussels, Belgium, resulted in two Swedish football supporters being killed and a third (the taxi chauffeur) was injured. The shooting took place at about 7:15 pm on October 16th and the victims were on their way to a football match at the King Baudouin Stadium. The gunman, identified as 45-year-old Tunisian Abdesalem Lassoued, fled the scene and was killed by the police.
The 35,000 spectators were held in the stadium before being evacuated a little before midnight, with the Swedish fans being the last to leave. The victims were all men, with the two who died being in their 60s and 70s, and the one who was wounded in his 70s.
The attack which cost the lives of two Swedish fans occurred on Monday shortly after 7:00 p.m. near Place Sainctelette, not far from the city center, a few hours before a Euro-2024 football qualifying match between the Belgium against Sweden at the Roi-Baudouin stadium.
Statement from the bishops of Belgium the day after the deadly attack which hit Brussels :
“Once again, we are shaken by an attack in our country. Our prayers and thoughts are with the innocent victims and their families.
The author of the attack would have wanted revenge based on a radicalized faith. Regardless, no insult, no aggression, even if it affects us deeply, can be curbed by violence.
Certainly, a society without security is impossible. But a society without fraternity and solidarity is just as impossible.
So above all, let us not give in to those who want to divide and oppose us. Let us not retreat behind the high walls of our right, frightened and hunted, with our backs turned to the other. As naive as it may sound, we are in great need of bridge builders. This is true at the level of countries and peoples. This is just as true within our own circles.
Let us be peacemakers more than ever.”
Brussels October 17, 2023
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