France News

On August 17th the founder of the ecumenical Taize community, Brother Roger Schultz was stabbed. It happened in his Reconciliation church in Taize, in eastern France's Burgundy region, as the leader was conducting the service. The 90-year-old founder was attacked in front of 2,500 young people and in spite of immediate assistance it wasn't possible to save his life.

Police suspect that a 36-year-old Romanian woman is responsible for the murder. It's reported that she stabbed Brother Roger three times in the back until he was so weakened that he could do nothing to resist her. What is even more tragic is that the woman is reputed to have committed the act just to attract attention; probably with no intention of killing him. It's suspected that the woman suffers from some mental disorder.

Brother Roger's funeral service is to take place next Tuesday, in the church where he was murdered and he will be buried in the cemetery of Taize.

The catholic community all over the world is shocked and messages of condolences have already been sent by Pope Benedict XIV, French ministers and many other dignitaries. The movement's new leader, who will replace the founder, will be Brother Alois Leser, a 51-year-old German Catholic who arrived in Germany on Wednesday to take over the leadership of the Taize group.

Roger Schultz, a Protestant with a degree in theology, had a strong desire to consolidate the Christian denominations and devoted his life to this goal. He founded his religious community in the village of Taize, near Cluny, when he arrived there in 1940.  With time Taize has become an international pilgrimage site, where thousands of people have visited singing, praying and strengthening their beliefs.

Brother Roger was awarded the UNESCO prize in 1988 for peace education as well as writing many books dedicated to praying and deep reflection on the modern world; these were aimed mainly at the younger generation.