Vatican City, 22 March 2016 – Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin has sent a telegram of condolences on behalf of the Holy Father to Archbishop Jozef De Kesel of Malines-Bruxelles following the terrorist attacks that took place in Brussels, Belgium this morning, killing more than thirty people and injuring over a hundred.

"Having learned of the attacks in Brussels, affecting many people, His Holiness Pope Francis entrusts the deceased to God's mercy and joins in prayer in the suffering of their relatives. He expresses his deepest sympathy for the injured and their families, and all those who contribute to the rescue operations, asking the Lord to bring them comfort and consolation in their ordeal. The Holy Father again condemns the blind violence which causes so much suffering, and imploring of God the gift of peace, he invokes for the bereaved families and the Belgian people the consolation of divine blessings".