In 2017 alone, there have been 865 terrorist attacks and 5,220 fatalities, including the most recent in Barcelona, Spain.
The Vatican’s former diplomatic representative to the United Nations, explains what he believes is the cause of this violence, found rooted in the individualism and lack of dignity for others.
ARCH. SILVANO TOMASI
Former Diplomatic Representative to UN
“Why is it that young people in particular in Europe or in other parts of the world, turn to options of violence? In their probable emptiness of heart, they look for exciting motivations that can give a deep existential meaning to their life.”
The archbishop said this meaning can be found in serving others, including and listening to those from every background. He said while achieving this requires patience, the reoccurring global violence is only a sign of underlying problems in society.
ARCH. SILVANO TOMASI
Former Diplomatic Representative to UN
“I think violence is the red light of alarm that something is fundamentally wrong in the way society and the public culture are developed and developing. It means the value of human life is very cheap in this kind of context because the understanding that the person lacks the sacrality that is due to it because each one of us is a son or a daughter of God, and as such we have equal dignity.”
Without this sense of respect and dignity for others, he asserts that a completely selfish and secular mindset is established, one witnessed over and over again throughout the world.
ARCH. SILVANO TOMASI
Former Diplomatic Representative to UN
“Confronted with this kind of situation, some other people prefer to use the short cut of violence to achieve their own objectives. This finds a correspondence in a lack of formation, the lack of responsibility to others, of solidarity of everybody. It's not the common good that prevails, but a sense of extreme individualism. This extreme individualism leads people, especially some of these marginal youngsters in some of our big cities, to respond with a method of violence.”
In his lifetime, this veteran archbishop has witnessed and resolved world conflicts, but says it's only through dialogue and a change in mentality that these problems can be resolved from the bottom up.
