Vatican / Nara - Pope Francis offered his "heartfelt condolences" to the loved ones of, following the assassination of the former Japanese prime minister Friday. The Holy Father says he is praying that in the wake of "this senseless act," that "Japanese society will be strengthened in its historic commitment to peace and nonviolence."
Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, sent the telegram expressing the Pope's condolences to the Asian country's Apostolic Nuncio, Leo Boccardi.
The Hope Father expressed his "deep sadness" at learning of the assassination of the former prime minister, and offered his "heartfelt condolences" to Abe's family and friends, and to the people of Japan.
Already on Friday, in an interview on Italian television, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican's Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, remembered the Prime Minister, saying he was deeply saddened by his death.
"The attack and his death fill me with deep sadness,” he said. “I had the honor of meeting the prime minister when I visited Japan. He was a man who had a great influence beyond Japan's borders. He was a very controversial person as well, however, a man of principles, a man with a great sense of the common good of his people."
The Holy Father made an Apostolic Journey to Japan in 2019.
Mourners gather to pay respect to late ex PM
The body of Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was returned to Tokyo on Saturday after he was fatally shot during a campaign speech in western Japan a day earlier.
A black hearse carrying Abe’s body and accompanied by his wife, Akie, arrived at his home in Tokyo’s upscale residential area of Shibuya, where many mourners waited and lowered their heads as the vehicle passed.
The attacker, Tetsuya Yamagami, told investigators he plotted the shooting because he believed rumors that Abe was connected to an organization that he resents, according to police.
Police on Saturday said autopsy results showed that a bullet that entered Abe’s upper left arm damaged arteries beneath both collar bones, causing fatal massive bleeding.
Abe’s assassination ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary election shocked the nation and raised questions over whether security for the former prime minister was adequate.
Some observers who watched videos of the assassination on social media and television noted a lack of attention in the open space behind Abe as he spoke.
Experts also said Abe was more vulnerable standing on the ground level, instead of atop a campaign vehicle, which reportedly could not be arranged because his visit to Nara was hastily planned the day before.
Even though he was out of office, Abe was still highly influential in the governing Liberal Democratic Party and headed its largest faction, but his ultra-nationalist views made him a divisive figure to many.
-VN/AP