Polish and Ukrainian Leaders Condemn Fatal Knife Attack at Jaroslaw Abbey
A Ukrainian citizen has been arrested after a knife attack at a Benedictine abbey in southeastern Poland killed one priest and wounded four others, prompting appeals from church leaders against hatred.
A knife attack at a Benedictine sisters' abbey in southeastern Poland has left one Catholic priest dead and four other people wounded, drawing condemnation from the presidents of both Poland and Ukraine and urgent appeals from church leaders not to let the crime fuel hostility between the two nations.
Police detained a 31-year-old Ukrainian citizen shortly after the violence erupted at the abbey complex in Jaroslaw, a city about 20 miles from Poland's border with Ukraine. The attack occurred Sept. 24, shortly before a morning Mass at the Church of St. Nicholas and St. Stanislaus, part of the Center for Christian Formation and Culture on the abbey grounds.
Five people were stabbed — three priests and two laypeople, a man and a woman. Father Stanislaw Zbojniewicz died from his injuries. Two other priests remained in serious condition Sept. 25 after undergoing surgery and surviving the night, according to the 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 complex and went into its kitchen area, where the violence began, before the attack moved toward the church. The knife used had been taken from the abbey kitchen.
Sister Barbara Dendor, superior of the Benedictine community in Jaroslaw, told Poland's Catholic Information Agency, KAI, 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. As of the morning of Sept. 25, Father Pienkowski and another injured priest remained hospitalized in serious condition. Both had undergone surgery, hospital director Lukasz Jerema told the Wirtualna Polska news outlet.
Sister Barbara said Father Zbojniewicz, who worked at the center as an assistant and sacristan, was among those attacked. The Benedictine superior was not herself 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,» Sister Barbara said. Describing the effect on the community, she added: «Our identity has been attacked.»
Prosecutors said the 31-year-old Ukrainian citizen 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,» Zelenskyy said, calling for a swift and thorough investigation into all the circumstances. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk likewise 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.»
Archbishop Szal asked parishes throughout the archdiocese to gather for prayer Sept. 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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