Since President Obama announced late Sunday night that U.S. forces had killed Osama bin Laden at a compound in Pakistan, responses have come from religious groupings around the world, including the Vatican.
In a sober speech, Obama gave little impression of gloat and hastened to add that the U.S. “is not, and will never be, at war with Islam. …Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims.”
OBL’s body was buried at sea within 24 hours of his death, in accordance with Islamic law, U.S. officials said. The sea burial was chosen because it would have been difficult to find a country willing to accept OBL’s remains, the LA Times reports. Also, it eliminates the possibility of his grave becoming a martyr’s shrine for al-Qaeda.
The Vatican spokesman said: “Faced with the death of a man, a Christian never rejoices, but reflects on the serious responsibility of each and every one of us before God and before man, and hopes and commits himself so that no event be an opportunity for further growth of hatred, but for peace.”
The Vatican has said that a Christian “never rejoices” in the face of someone’s death, even if that person has committed heinous crimes.
The comment came as part of a short response to the worldwide news that Osama bin Laden, taken to be a key al-Qaida leader, has been killed by US forces in Pakistan, according to a statement made by President Barack Obama
The Vatican described bin Laden as a man who sowed division and hatred and who caused “innumerable” deaths, and said his demise should prompt serious reflection about human responsibility before God.
A Christian “never rejoices” in the face of a man’s death, the Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said in a brief statement this morning (2 May 2011).
Peace not hatred should be what we seek in all events, he declared.
An English translation of his statement was released by the Catholic Church, and reads as follows:
“Osama bin Laden, as we all know, bore the most serious responsibility for spreading divisions and hatred among populations, causing the deaths of innumerable people, and manipulating religions for this purpose.
“In the face of a man’s death, a Christian never rejoices, but reflects on the serious responsibilities of each person before God and before men, and hopes and works so that every event may be the occasion for the further growth of peace and not of hatred.”
As for Muslims in the Middle East, the NYT ponders whether bin Laden’s death will spur the movement to promote democracy in the region or fuel Islamist forces.
The plot, and ethical questions, grow thicker. Apparently, Osama bin Laden was unarmed when Navy SEALS shot him. And so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques” led the U.S. to his compound.
VP Joe Biden fingered rosary beads on Sunday afternoon as the president and advisers gathered in the Situation Room to monitor the operation, the NYT reports.
American Muslims continue to view OBL’s death as the dawn of a “new era” in their complicated lives since 9/11. Last Saturday, government officials admitted to Muslims that they are often subjected to a higher degree of scrutiny when they travel.
In Pakistan, a militant Muslim leader said OBL’s “martyrdom” would not be in vain, Reuters reports. The Dalai Lama suggested that the U.S. was justified in killing OBL. “If something is serious and it is necessary to take counter-measures, you have to take counter-measures,” he told a California audience.
OBL wasn’t much of a theologian, CNN reports, but he was a “model neighbor,” according to the NYT. When a ball flew into the compound, the owners never let children retrieve it but gave them 50 rupees to buy a new one, and kept paying when the children began to throw balls into the compound on purpose to get more money.