Pope mourns prior killed at prayer

[emad]

August 18, 2005

Pope mourns prior killed at prayer
By Charles Bremner
World leaders have paid tribute to a peace pastor who attracted young people



CHURCH leaders and statesmen were yesterday mourning the death of Roger Schutz, the 90-year-old Swiss prior who devoted his life to bringing Christians of all denominations together at his community in Burgundy, France. He was stabbed by a woman as he led a service on Tuesday night.

Many of the 2,500, mainly young, worshippers witnessed the attack in which a 36-year-old Romanian woman, Luminita Solcan, lunged at Brother Roger’s throat with a large pocket knife. He died within half an hour, despite the aid of a doctor in the congregation.



Brother Emile, who also saw the killing, said: “It happened very fast. There were some screams. We turned around — he was wounded. We carried him out of the church so people didn’t see the terrible part. She slit his throat.”

Brother Roger’s attacker was said to be an aspiring minister who had been refused entry to holy orders by her native church. Father Cornel Cadar, from the woman’s diocese, said that she had suffered from a mental illness for several years.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,173-1739835,00.html