The gun attack on the church of StMary in the Istanbul suburb of Büyükdere would seem to have been motivated by religious intolerance, the Apostolic Vicar of Istanbul, Monsignor Massimiliano Palinuro, said on Sunday.
"The motivations are not clear in concrete terms, they still have to be verified, but the elements that seem to be emerging so far suggest an attack with a religious matrix, a motivation of religious intolerance," Monsignor Palinuro told Vatican News.
The apostolic vicar said during Mass "two armed people entered (the church) firing gunshots into the air".
Then "there was the reaction of one of the faithful, who also had mental health problems; he had the courage to protest against this attitude: probably in response to this act (the gunmen) responded by killing this person", he added.
Expressing his condolences over the attack on Sunday, TurkishPresident Recep Tayyip Erdogan said "necessary measures are being taken to catch the perpetrators as soon as possible".
He is said to have spoken by telephone with local officials and priest of St Mary's.
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