AFRICA/EGYPT – Al Azhar on the massacre in the US church: all religions forbid to shed innocent blood

Cairo – Violence acts “which desecrate the holiness of places of worship and destroy innocent lives threaten the people’s stability and security”. And the shedding of innocent blood, irrespective of race and the religion of the victims, “is forbidden by all religions”. With these words, the University of Al Azhar, the main academic and theological center of Sunni Islam, expressed in a formal statement the condolences to the victims of the massacre carried out on Sunday November 5 by a former military in a Baptist church in SutherlandSprings, Texas, causing the deaths of at least 26 people and dozens of injured. Al Azhar condemned the criminal act, expressing condolences to the government and the people of the United States of America, starting with the families of the victims.