2014-08-21 12:02:00

Slain journalist’s alma mater to hold prayer vigil


(Vatican Radio) The United States launched 14 airstrikes yesterday in Iraq against Islamic State militants.

The airstrikes, aimed at helping Iraqi and Kurdish forces to make gains against Islamic State, were launched in the area of the Mosul Dam, just hours after militants released a gruesome video of the murder of American journalist James Foley.

U.S. President Barack Obama said Foley's murder “shocked the conscience” of the entire world and pledged to bring Foley’s killers to justice. He said Islamic State “speaks for no religion”, that “their victims are overwhelmingly Muslim, and no faith teaches people to massacre innocents.”

Obama also vowed to continue fighting Islamic State with intensified airstrikes and has urged U.S. international partners to demonstrate their solidarity.

In the meantime, the Pentagon says it is considering sending fewer than 300 troops to Baghdad to help secure the Iraqi capital. A decision has yet to be issued.

The Pentagon also said yesterday it attempted a secret rescue operation to free several American hostages held captive in Syria this summer, including Foley, but the mission failed.

A Catholic, Foley was a graduate of the Jesuit Marquette University and was a teacher for a number of years before changing careers.

Along with a series of messages from Foley’s family, friends and colleagues, witnessing to the journalist’s fine character and commitment to his work, the university said in a statement that the history major was known for his “heart for social justice and used his immense talents to tell the difficult stories in the hopes that they might make a difference in the world—a measure of his character for which we could not be prouder.”

Following his first capture as a journalist in Libya in 2011, Foley had expressed in a letter to the Marquette community the power and strength he drew from prayer.

The university has organized a prayer vigil for its slain alumnus, and in support of the Foley family, during the first week of class on August 26. 

Report by Laura Ieraci








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