Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s Secretary of State, has sent a telegram of condolence in the Holy Father’s name following the assassination of the former Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe.

“In the wake of this senseless act,” the Pope “prays that Japanese society will be strengthened in its historic commitment to peace and nonviolence,” Cardinal Parolin wrote in his telegram to Archbishop Leo Boccardi, the Apostolic Nuncio in Japan.