The archbishop of Berlin has condemned the deadly attack on an LGBT “Pride” event in the German capital after a minivan was driven into a crowd on Saturday evening, killing one woman and injuring at least 29 people, some of them seriously.
“How terrible! To brutally destroy such a joyful and moving celebration. In our prayers we are with all the victims and their relatives and friends, and also with all those whose joy hatred has taken away. Hatred must not win,” Archbishop Heiner Koch told the German Catholic news agency KNA.
The prelate said intercessions would be offered at Sunday Masses throughout the Archdiocese of Berlin for those affected and for peaceful coexistence in society.
What happened in the Tiergarten
According to media reports, a white minivan was driven at high speed into a densely packed crowd at Tiergarten park, the venue of the annual Christopher Street Day (CSD) event, at about 10 p.m. on July 25, roughly 1,300 feet outside the secured festival area, before crashing into a tree.
The driver then attacked bystanders with a machete and fled.
The suspect, identified in German media as Abdul B., was a 21-year-old German citizen of Lebanese background whom authorities had classified as a potential Islamist attacker.
According to NZZ, the Muslim attacker had previously attempted to join the Islamic State in Syria and was convicted in May of preparing a serious act of violence, receiving a suspended juvenile sentence.
The German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel reported that he had openly sympathized with the terrorist group.
The suspected terrorist was shot dead by police on Sunday evening in Berlin’s Spandau district after attacking officers with his bladed weapon.
Germany’s federal prosecutor has taken over the investigation, and Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt called the incident an “Islamist terrorist attack.”
‘We light a candle and pray’
Hundreds of thousands of people had taken part in the 48th Berlin CSD earlier on Saturday. The event was called off after the attack. On Sunday evening, hundreds attended an ecumenical memorial service at St. Mary’s Church in central Berlin, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz among those present.
The Federation of German Catholic Youth (BDKJ), which took part in the LGBT parade through its Berlin diocesan association, said it was “shocked and saddened.”
“We light a candle and pray for all those affected by this terrible act,” the organization said.
The Catholic Church unequivocally condemns all violence and every form of unjust discrimination against persons living with same-sex attraction. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, they “must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity” (No. 2358).
This story was first published by CNA Deutsch, the German-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
