Pope Starts New Year with Call for Peace and Justice

 In his message for World Day of Peace on January 1, the pope lamented the "devastation" seen in much of the earth and "the conflicts that presently plague our human family," the Christian Today website reports today (Jan. 3, 2025). 

Pope Francis said that certain challenges were causing "havoc" in the world , including "the inhuman treatment meted out to migrants, environmental decay, the confusion willfully created by disinformation, the refusal to engage in any form of dialogue, and the immense resources spent on the industry of war." 

"All these, taken together, represent a threat to the existence of humanity as a whole," he said. 

"At the beginning of this year, then, we desire to heed the plea of suffering humankind in order to feel called, together and as individuals, to break the bonds of injustice to proclaim God's justice. 

Terrorist Truck Driver Kills 15, Wounds Dozens, Slamming into New Orleans New Year's Eve Crowd

A U.S.Army veteran driving a pickup truck that bore the flag of the Islamic State group wrought carnage on New Orleans' raucous New Year's celebration, killing 15 people as he steered around a police blockade and slammed into revelers before being shot dead by police, the AP website reports today (Jan. 1, 2025). 

The FBI said it is investigating the attack as a terrorist act and does not believe the driver acted alone. Investigators found guns and what appeared to be an improvised explosive device in the vehicle along with other devices elsewhere in the city's famed French Quarter.

President Joe Biden said this evening that the FBI found videos that the driver had posted to social media hours before the attack in which he said  he was inspired by the Islamic State group and expressed a desire to kill. 

The rampage turned festive Bourbon Srtreet into a macabre mayhem of maimed victims, bloodied bodies, and pedestrians fleeing for safety inside nightclubs and restaurants. In addition to the dead, dozens of people were wounded. 

Zion Parsons, 18, of Gulfport, Mississippi, said he saw the truck "barreling through, throwing people like in a movie scene, throwing people into the air." 

"Bodies, bodies all up and down the street, everybody screaming  and hollering," said Parsons, whose friend Nikyra Dedeaux was among the people killed. 

"This is not just an act of terrorism. This is evil," New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said. 

The FBI identified the driver as Shamsud--Din Jabbar, 42, a U.S. citizen from Texas, and said it is working to determine his potential associations with terrorist organizations. 

"We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible," FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan said at a news conference.