Paris, France, Dec 10, 2009 / 13:07 pm
The Bishops’ Conference of South Africa and the South African police announced this week that French missionary priest, Father Louis Blondel, was murdered after a break-in at his home in an impoverished region of Johannesburg.
According to police in Pretoria, South Africa, the 70 year-old priest was sleeping when four burglars, three of whom were teens, shot him before they fled with two computers and a cell phone.
Father Blondel was born in Bethune, a city in northern France. After spending his youth in Tanzania, he moved to South Africa 1987 where he began several social ministries. He was a member of the Missionaries of Africa, and with Father Guido Bourgeois in northern Johannesburg, he built a church for the local residents.
“His presence was greatly appreciated by the people here. He did a lot of social work,” the Bishops’ Conference of South Africa said in a statement. According to “The Star,” Father Blondel is the fourth priest to be murdered this year in South Africa.