Pope Francis Prays for Victims As Death Toll in German Christmas Market Attack Reaches Five

While authorities are investigating the incident as an attack, Chief Public Prosecutor Horst Walter Nopens said it remained unclear whether they deemed it an act of terrorism, local media reported.

The Diocese of Magdeburg announced that St. Sebastian’s Cathedral would be open Saturday for prayer and reflection. A memorial service was scheduled for Saturday evening at Magdeburg Cathedral.

Bishop Gerhard Feige of Magdeburg issued a statement immediately after the attack Friday evening: “I think of those affected, their relatives, and the emergency services and include them in my prayers.”

The local bishop added, “especially in these days and before a feast where the message of God’s love, human dignity, and the longing for a healed world particularly move us, such an act is all the more frightening and abysmal.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser visited the city to meet with local officials and pay their respects at the site of the attack.

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The German Bishops’ Conference president, Bishop Georg Bätzing, said the “attack in Magdeburg leaves us speechless. The horror, grief, and sympathy are felt today by many people throughout Germany and worldwide.”

The suspect had previously worked as a psychotherapist and, according to German media reports, had been posting increasingly erratic messages on social media in recent months, including threats of bloodshed and “war” against German authorities. In a 2019 interview, he had described himself as an “ex-Muslim.”

According to a police spokesman, authorities had received a criminal complaint against the suspect a year ago. While a preventative intervention was planned at the time — a measure intended to preemptively combat potential crimes — this apparently never took place.

The attack occurred at a location that was not protected by concrete barriers, which have been installed at Christmas markets across Germany following several Islamist terror attacks at public events, including at a Berlin Christmas market in 2016 that killed 12 people.