Pope meets victims’ kin

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis met one by one with relatives of the victims of this summer’s truck attack in Nice, France, at the Vatican on Saturday, encouraging them to resist what he called the great temptation to “respond to hatred with hatred and to violence with violence.”

The special audience in a Vatican auditorium included Christians, Muslims and Jews.

“It cheers me to see that, among you, inter-religious relations are very strong, and this cannot but help contribute to alleviating the wounds of these dramatic events,” said the pontiff, who also offered compassion to those in attendance.

Nice’s former mayor, Christian Estrosi, gave the pope a basket of 86 flowers to symbolize the 86 victims of the July 14 attack by an extremist who barreled the truck he was driving through a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day in the French Riviera city.

Francis said political and religious leaders must make it their urgent priority to establish “sincere dialogue and fraternal relations among all, especially among all those who believe in a God who is one and merciful.”