Breaking: Catholic Priest Murdered in France, Says Country’s Interior Minister

On its Twitter account, it wrote that Bishop François Jacolin of Luçon and the Diocese of Luçon “express their deep sorrow and sadness” following the news of the murder.

“Bishop Jacolin and the Diocese of Luçon share the immense sorrow of his family and the entire Montfortian family,” it said.

France Info reported that the suspect in the murder in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, a commune in the Vendée department, was already under investigation in relation to the fire at Nantes Cathedral in July 2020.

More in World

U.S. President-elect Trump to Attend Notre Dame Cathedral Reopening in Paris

Read the article

Reuters reported that the suspect had handed himself in to police.

French media said that the 60-year-old priest had welcomed the 40-year-old suspect, identified by media as Emmanuel Abayisenga, into the community in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre following the fire.

The incident immediately sparked a political row, with Marine Le Pen, president of the National Rally, an anti-immigration party, criticizing the authorities for failing to deport the suspect, identified on social media as a man of Rwandan origin.

“In France, one can be an illegal immigrant, set fire to the cathedral in Nantes, never be deported, and then reoffend by murdering a priest,” she wrote on Twitter.

Darmanin rejected the criticism.

“Rather than expressing her compassion for the Catholics who welcomed this murderer, Ms. Le Pen polemicizes without knowing the facts: this foreigner could not be deported despite his deportation order as long as his judicial control had not been lifted,” he responded.

This is a developing story.