Vatican City, Sep 24, 2004 / 12:00 am (CNA).- The offical Vatican newspaper “L ‘Osservatore Romano,” is calling on Italians not to lose hope in response to terrorist statements that two 29-year old Italian volunteers have been killed in Iraq.

The front-page headline yesterday read, “Anguish and hope and yet we will not give up,” alluding to Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, who were kidnapped September 7 in Bagdad.

The newspaper called on readers to continue hoping for the release of the young people, who traveled to Iraq as part of a humanitarian outreach to children.
 
“We must hope that these messages are not authentic, that they are only a dream, the worst you can have, and that the dark shadows that are suffocating us might dissappar soon,” the article stated.

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