Editor’s Note: On November 2nd a gunman opened fire in the historic city center of Vienna. Four people were killed and 23 others were injured. The attacker was killed by police.
Reinhard Schwab, President of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Austria, comments on and condemns the act of violence in the following statement:
"I am shocked by this act of senseless aggression which has cost innocent people their lives and injured many. As church leaders, we call on all our members to think, in their prayers, of those affected and their families, the authorities responsible for education, the health care workers, and all those who are currently experiencing fear, concern, and grief. We want to respond to this expression of reckless violence with kindness, respect, care, and mutual assistance. Right now, we need to stand together and support one another."
In a special newsletter to members of the church in Austria, he reminded them of the call in the Old Testament book of Jeremiah (chapter 29, verse 7): to seek the best of the city and pray for it. In this sense, he called for prayer actions of the local congregations.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Austria has 4,318 members and is organized in 65 congregations and groups. It stands for the value of each individual human life through lived faith and practical charity.
https://www.adventisten.at/blog/Betroffenheit-und-Entsetzen-nach-Terror-in-Wien/2776/