Faith leaders condemns Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris

Christian and Muslim leaders have condemned today’s terrorist attack at the Paris offices of the satrical magazine, Charlie Hebdo which has left 12 people dead and injured another 11, four of them seriously. In a statement the French Bishops Conference expressed their “profound emotion and horror: at the attacks,. They added: “The barbarism expressed in these murders hurts us all.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said: “This is an act of the most extraordinary brutality and barbarity. This violence is demonic in its attack on the innocent, and cowardly in its denial of the basic human right of freedom of speech. The people of France, a country in which I have lived, which I know and love, will rise courageously above the challenge of this vile attack and continue to demonstrate strength and confidence arising out of their great history.

“Our prayers and thoughts are especially with those who have been killed and injured and their families. I pray also for those involved in pursuing the terrorists.”

Dalil Boubaker, rector of Paris’ Grand Mosque and President of the French Council of the Muslim Faith, described the attack as "barbaric and an attack against democracy and freedom of the press." The Union of Islamic Organisations of France also condemned the murders "in the strongest terms.”

Earlier today, the French bishop responsible for interfaith dialogue, Mgr Michel Dubost, together with four senior imams, met Pope Francis at his audience as part of three days of meetings in Rome.

The Pope exchanged greetings with Djelloul Seddiki, director of the Institute of Théologie of Paris’ Grand Mosque, Tareq Oubrou, rector of the Bordeaux mosque, Mohammed Moussaoui, President of the Union of French Mosques, Azzedine Gaci, rector of the mosque in Villeurbanne,

Bishop Dubost said: "In a world that loves the spectacle of violence, it is good to show the good relations that are developing in France between the majority of Muslims and the majority of Christians. The visit of these great Muslim leaders to Rome is a sign of this.”

On hearing news of the attack in Paris, a Vatican spokesman condemned the shooting, saying it was “a double act of violence, abominable because it is both an attack against people as well as against freedom of the press."