Martyrs lose their lives for others, not to kill: Bagnasco

Genoa, Aug 11 (IANS/AKI) A martyr chooses death to save other people, not to try and kill them, the head of the Italian bishops conference said on Wednesday in an apparent reference to jihadist suicide bombers.

"Martyrs do not give up their lives trying to kill other people but are those who sacrifice themselves to save others," Angelo Bagnasco said in sermon in Genoa's cathedral.

The cardinal was celebrating mass on the feast-day of Saint Lawrence, an early Christian deacon martyred in Rome in AD 258.