Aid to the Church in Need: Russia: ACN mourns two murdered priests in Moscow

Russia: ACN mourns two murdered priests in Moscow

Posted by ACN News on 30/10/2008, 7:42 am
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Russia: ACN mourns two murdered priests in Moscow

The Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is mourning the death of two Jesuit Catholic priests, Father Otto Messmer and Father Victor Betancourt Ruiz, who were found murdered in their apartment in Moscow on Tuesday 28th of October.

The president of ACN, Father Joaquín Alliende, has written to the general superior of the Jesuit order, Father Adolfo Nicolás, expressing his "deep anguish" at the murder of these two priests, who had both been involved "in fruitful contacts" with ACN and adding that the charity had "been privileged to witness their generous commitment in the service of the Catholics of Moscow". The charity understood the sorrow of so many people in Moscow and shared the sadness of the Russian Catholic bishops’ conference and the "delicate sympathy of His Holiness Alexey II, the patriarch of Moscow and all Russia", his letter continues.

At midday yesterday in the chapel at the international headquarters of ACN in Germany, Holy Mass was celebrated for the two dead priests. Father Alliende remembered the slain priests by saying, "We thanked God for the richly fruitful lives of these two sons of St Ignatius of Loyola, prayed for the repose of their souls and asked God to forgive their killers and to comfort their fellow priests and family members, and also the Catholic community that has been so tragically left without a shepherd."

Yesterday (29th of October) in Moscow, Patriarch Alexey II expressed his sympathies to the Catholic Church during his meeting with the chairman of the French episcopal conference, Cardinal André Vingt-Trois. Likewise, representatives of the Muslims in Russia have expressed their dismay at these murders and their deep sympathy. That evening, at 6 p.m. local time, a memorial service was held in the Catholic cathedral of Moscow.

So far the background to the killings is unclear. Father Otto Messmer (47), the Provincial of the Jesuits in Russia, and Father Victor Betancourt Ruiz (42) from Ecuador were apparently beaten to death. At the time they were found, it appears, they had already been dead for 24 hours. The authorities have initiated a murder enquiry, and the state prosecutor is now making wide enquiries. Both priests were project partners of ACN.

Editor's Notes:

Directly under the Holy See, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need. ACN is a Catholic charity - helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.

Founded in 1947 by Fr Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named "An Outstanding Apostle of Charity", the organisation is now at work in about 145 countries throughout the world.

The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative's launch in 1979, 45 million Aid to the Church in Need Child's Bibles have been distributed worldwide.

For more information, please contact the Australian office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. Web: www.aidtochurch.org

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Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148 ABN: 62 418 911 594
Ph/Fax (02) 9679-1929 e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org web: www.aidtochurch.org