Polish and Ukrainian Leaders Condemn Fatal Knife Attack at Benedictine Abbey
A Ukrainian man fatally stabbed a priest and wounded four others at a Benedictine abbey in southeastern Poland, prompting condemnations from both presidents and calls for prayer and restraint.
A knife attack at a Benedictine sisters' abbey in southeastern Poland has left one Catholic priest dead and four other people wounded, prompting condemnations from the presidents of Poland and Ukraine and urgent appeals from Church leaders to prevent the tragedy from fueling hatred.
Police detained a 31-year-old Ukrainian citizen shortly after the violence erupted on September 24 at the abbey complex in Jaroslaw, a city about 20 miles from Poland's border with Ukraine. The attack occurred shortly before morning Mass at the Church of St. Nicholas and St. Stanislaus, part of the Center for Christian Formation and Culture located on the abbey grounds.
Five people were stabbed — three priests and two laypeople, a man and a woman. Father Stanislaw Zbojniewicz, who worked at the center as an assistant and sacristan, died from his injuries. Two other priests remained in serious condition on September 25 after undergoing surgery and surviving the night, according to Lukasz Jerema, director of the hospital in Jaroslaw.
Police said officers received the first report at about 9:30 a.m. and arrested the suspect at the scene. Prosecutors said they had not established a motive and still did not know how or why the suspect arrived at the abbey. According to investigators, the suspect entered the abbey complex and went into its kitchen area, where the violence began, before the attack moved toward the church. The knife used in the attack had been taken from the abbey kitchen.
Sister Barbara Dendor, superior of the Benedictine community in Jaroslaw, told Poland's Catholic Information Agency that the attack began shortly before Mass. She said one priest was stabbed before Father Marek Pienkowski, who had been hearing confessions, came out of the confessional and tried to intervene. «He was also attacked and is in the hospital in serious condition,» Sister Barbara said. Father Pienkowski and another injured priest both underwent surgery and remained hospitalized in serious condition.
Sister Barbara said Father Zbojniewicz was among those attacked. She was not inside the church when the attack took place, and no sisters were present there at the time. Children attending a preschool run by the Benedictines were safe, she said. «We are on the grounds of the abbey; we are neighbors. This is a blow to us as well,» she said, adding, «Our identity has been attacked.»
Prosecutors said the suspect had entered Poland from Germany during the night and traveled toward the Korczowa border crossing with Ukraine, but did not cross the border. Investigators were still trying to establish what happened afterward and how he came to be at the abbey in Jaroslaw.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack in a statement posted on social media. «In the Convent of the Benedictine Sisters in Jaroslaw, a citizen of Ukraine committed a horrific crime. We are shocked by this evil,» Zelenskyy said. He expressed condolences to the family and loved ones of the slain priest and wished the injured a speedy recovery. «The perpetrator of this evil must bear full responsibility in accordance with the law,» he said, calling for a swift and thorough investigation into all the circumstances.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the suspect would face «the full severity of Polish law,» while President Karol Nawrocki called for a rapid and thorough investigation. The attack comes at a sensitive moment in Polish-Ukrainian relations, after more than four years of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine and amid growing tensions in Poland over migration, wartime assistance and unresolved historical disputes.
Archbishop Adam Szal of Przemysl asked Catholics to pray for the dead priest, the wounded and their families, as well as for the attacker and his conversion. «We should show solidarity with the whole community, with the families and with those who live there,» Archbishop Szal said shortly after the attack. He urged Catholics not to allow the violence to produce «hatred or hostility.»
In his statement, Archbishop Szal asked parishes throughout the archdiocese to gather for prayer on September 26. He called for «peace, unity and fraternity» and warned against those who might exploit the tragedy or incite hatred. Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda, president of the Polish bishops' conference, also expressed condolences and said he was praying for the victims and the conversion of the perpetrator.
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