The curse of religious intolerance

I have just learned of the most awful attack on the offices of CharlieHebdo in Paris by supposed Islamic militants. I am outraged and saddened. France is my spiritual home and a place where my heart remains. I adore everything about the country and its inhabitants- the language, the food, the majestic scenery that metamorphoses almost suddenly from rustic countryside into lavender fields or azure blue seas. Much of who I am as a person comes from the many happy years I spent in France, the BEST years of my life. The friendships I made, the people who loved me from the moment we set eyes on each other, enduring and profound platonic relationships, via our shared language, and a vibrant willingness to love life, a common questioning of oneself and the vain pursuit of happiness and all through dense clouds of cigarette smoke; there could not be a French soul with whom I would not get on immediately. My paternal great grandmother once sailed away from France never to return but I could never detach myself so easily from a country that is a huge part of my soul and very being.

As a Catholic I accept and admire other faiths. So to the barbarians who committed this dastardly act I say: how could you?! God forgive you.

May the souls of those murdered today rest in peace.

Photo copyright SvD.