Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, the president of Italian bishops conference CEI, said Tuesday that he did not think Italy was becoming racist, after a series of recent xenophobic attacks, but added that many people are gripped by fear.
"I've spent my whole life as a priest and Italian people are not racist at the core," Bassetti said.
"The Italian people, our people, are terribly afraid, because
of what they see and because they don't feel protected.
"So fear is terrible, because fear leads to paralysis.
"Fear leads you to defend yourself from others rather than
receiving others".
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
