Pope Francis Sends Letter to Residents of Beslan Who Mark 10 Years Since School Massacre

ROME, September 1 (RIA Novosti) - Pope Francis has written a letter to the residents of the town of Beslan in North Ossetia who are marking ten years since the Beslan school massacre, Italian media reported Monday.

Abbot Paolo De Carli, who sheltered 60 Beslan residents for two months at his monastery in the Trentino province in Italy in 2004, will take Pope Francis’s letter, the contents of which are not disclosed, to North Ossetia, the press service of the Honorary Consulate of the Russian Federation in Bolzano told RIA Novosti.

Paolo De Carli will also take part in the mourning ceremonies that will be organized by the consulate in the coming days.

The Beslan school massacre occurred on September 1, 2004 in the southern Russian republic of North Ossetia, when Islamic insurgents attacked Secondary School No. 1, taking more than 1,100 school children, their teachers and relatives hostage.

Over 300 people, including 186 children, were killed as a result of a three-day standoff between Islamic separatists and Russian special forces.