Papal reaction: Speaking on a milestone day in his 25-year pontificate, Pope John Paul II yesterday issued a bitter condemnation of Thursday's bomb attacks in Madrid.
Addressing pilgrims from his studio window in St Peter's Square, the Pope devoted his weekly Angelus to Thursday's massacre, commenting: "This horrendous crime, which claimed the lives of 200 people and injured more than 1,000, has deeply shaken world public opinion. Faced with such barbarism, one is totally overwhelmed and one asks oneself how the human spirit can manage to conceive of such abhorrent misdeeds."
The Pope, who looked and sounded relatively well, praised the solidarity shown during the public marches in Spain on Friday in which more than 11 million people expressed their rejection of terrorist violence. "In repeating my absolute condemnation of such unjustifiable actions, let me once again express my condolences to the relatives of the victims and my support through prayer for all the injured and their relatives."
At no point did the Pope make reference to the fact that yesterday was the day which saw him become the third-longest serving Pope in history, following St Peter and Pope Pius IX (1846-1878). Yesterday, the 83-year-old Pope registered 9,281 days in pontifical office, thus moving past Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903).