Ankara, Turkey, Jul 2, 2006 / 22:00 pm
A man stabbed a Roman Catholic priest Sunday in the Black Sea port of Samsun in the third attack against a Catholic cleric in Turkey since February.
Fr. Pierre Brunissen, 74, was injured in the hip and leg and rushed to hospital, Msgr. Luigi Padovese, the apostolic vicar for Anatolia, told The Associated Press. The French priest lost a lot of blood but his condition is not life threatening.
"I hope this has nothing to with Islamic fundamentalism," Msgr. Padovese reportedly told the AP. "The climate has changed,” he was quoted as saying. “It is the Catholic priests that are being targeted."
Police detained the 47-year-old attacker, who has been described as mentally ill, the Anatolia news agency reported. The man was known to have complained about the priest for allegedly promoting Christian propaganda, the agency reported.
A 16-year-old Muslim is currently on trial for the fatal shooting in February of Fr. Andrea Santoro, 60.
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