Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, 09 August, 2021 / 3:05 pm (ACI Africa).
Fr. Olivier Maire, the Catholic priest murdered in France on Monday, was the provincial superior of the Montfort Missionaries, a worldwide religious congregation founded by St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort.
He was killed in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, a commune in the Vendée department, western France. The town is home to the Basilica of St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, where the founder is buried and where St. John Paul II preached in 1996.
"Nous avons appris avec horreur et sidération ce matin l’assassinat à Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre du Père Olivier Maire, supérieur provincial des pères montfortain." Mgr Jacolin (Photo G.Moreau - Diocèse de Luçon) pic.twitter.com/MMaIjSxL4X
— Diocèse de Luçon - Eglise Catholique en Vendée (@Diocese_85) August 9, 2021
The French bishops’ conference and the Conference of Religious of France said in a joint statement on Aug. 9 that the man suspected of killing the priest “was staying with Fr. Olivier Maire” at the time of the murder.
Media named the suspect as Emmanuel Abayisenga, a 40-year-old man of Rwandan origin who is also suspected of starting the fire at Nantes cathedral in July 2020.