TAIZE, France : The founder of the French religious Taize group,
Brother Roger, 90, was stabbed to death during evening prayers by a
mentally disturbed person, his community said.
Police said that a 36-year-old Romanian woman was detained as a
suspect.
Roger was attacked with a knife during evening prayers attended by
some 2,500 young people at the Reconciliation church in Taize, in
the eastern Burgundy region.
He was seriously wounded and died from his wounds despite immediate
help by rescuers, a community member told AFP.
Police said the suspect hit the community founder three times in
the back before she could be overpowered.
"We are in shock; there is a lot of confusion here; nobody
understands what happened," a nun told AFP.
She said that Brother Francois, who was close to Roger, explained
what had happened during prayer and asked people to remain inside
the church to pray.
The Taize movement started during World War II, when Swiss-born
theologian Roger Schutz, living in Taize, provided a refuge for
those fleeing the conflict, irrespective of their religion.
Roger, a Protestant with a degree in theology, devoted his life to
the reconciliation between Christian denominations.
He arrived in the village of Taize, near Cluny, in 1940 at the age
of 25 planning to found a religious community.
Sources close to the 100-strong group said he was about to give up
his community functions later this year because of his advanced
age. Recently he had suffered from fatigue and often used a
wheelchair.
Brother Alois, a 51-year-old German Catholic, was chosen by Brother
Roger as his heir-apparent eight years ago and was returning from
the World Youth Day jamboree in Cologne to take his place, a
community spokesman said.
Brother Alois had been a member of the Taize group for 32 years and
travelled widely in eastern Europe for the community, spokesman
Brother Emile said.
The Taize community groups members of several Christian
denominations from some 30 countries and welcomes tens of thousands
of young people every year for spiritual reflection and
prayer.
In Cologne, news of Brother Roger's death provoked consternation
among the hundreds of thousands of young Catholics present for the
festival, to be attended by Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday.
Prelate Heiner Koch said in a statement: "All the participants in
World Youth Day are praying for this great figure. We express our
deep compassion to the Taize community."
The president of the French Bishops' Conference, Archbishop of
Bordeaux Jean-Pierre Ricard, wrote to the Taize community
expressing his "deep grief" after the murder of "this great figure
of a researcher and witness of God, impassioned by unity among
Christians and reconciliation."
Roger was awarded the UNESCO prize for peace education in 1988 and
is the author of many books on prayer and reflection, asking young
people to be confident and committed.
Overnight here at the community many young people remained
meditating in the church while others wandered around outside,
shocked and haggard. - AFP/de
