POPE Francis offered his condolences for the death of a French priest to French-speaking faithful at his weekly general audience yesterday.
“I learned of the murder of Father Olivier Maire with great sorrow,” he said.
“I extend my condolences to the religious community of the Monfortians in Saint-laurent-sur-Sèvre, Vendée, to his family and to all Catholics in France.”
Pope Francis also assured those affected by his death of his spiritual nearness.
French Bishops and religious have also expressed their admiration for the generosity of the slain priest.
Fr Maire and his religious community had been offering shelter to a 40-year-old Rwandan immigrant, who was a suspect in the arson attack on the Cathedral of Nantes in June 2020.
On Monday, the man turned himself in to police, confessing to the alleged murder of Fr Maire.
Police have detained him and are treating him as a suspect in the ongoing investigation.
An autopsy revealed that Fr Maire died after “violent blows” to the head, according to the prosecutor of La-Roche-sur-Yon.
“The victim had six lesions, all to the head, inflicted by violent blows,” the autopsy report said, which was unable to determine the weapon used to strike the priest.
The murder has sparked further breakdown between conservative groups and the government in France over the ongoing immigration issues.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his “deep dismay” over the events.
In the last few years, France has had a series of Church attacks and arsons, including an attack last October where a Tunisian radical Islamist killed three people praying in a church.
