Another Priest Murdered in South Africa

A priest was shot dead in the early hours of Monday morning at his presbytery in Diepsloot, an informal settlement to the north of Johannesburg.

From the news24 website:

Pretoria - Father Louis Blondel, 70, a French priest of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg, was shot dead in his room on Monday at about 02:00 when child robbers gained access to the rectory.

Blondel is the fourth Catholic priest to be murdered in South Africa this year.

He was shot through his left shoulder, with the bullet exiting his back. The children had opened the door for the robber.

Blondel had been a member of the Missionaries of Africa, whose stated mission is serving the people of Africa. He's been in South Africa since 1987 and has lived in Diepsloot since August last year.

Before moving there, he worked in Tanzania, Soweto and Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria. Father Guido Bourgeois, 70, who saw Blondel being shot, said three teenagers entered the house through a window at approximately 02:00.

"They came into my room and woke me. I started to scream but they told me to 'shut up'. One of them was pointing something in my direction, but I couldn't see if it was a firearm," said Bourgeois.

Looked for money

The children asked for money, upon which he gave them a R50 note he had in his wallet.

"One of them removed a painting from the wall to see if there's a safe behind it. The other opened cupboards and said they're looking for money."

According to Bourgeois, the teenagers asked for keys to the house. They followed him to the front door, where they forced him to unlock it.

"When I unlocked the door, a big, tall man of about 35 years was standing in front of me."

Bourgeois said the robbers then forced him back into the house and wanted to know how many people there were in the house. He said there were three.

The other resident is a man who had been staying there for a few months, since he had no other place to stay.

The rest of this thoroughly unpleasant story can be read here.

The worst of it is that very little was taken. I believe that Fr Bourgeois gave them his cellphone in addition to the R50 (approx $6 or £4). The unfortunate fact is that many people seem to think that the Catholic Church and its priests are positively rolling in money. We have had two burglaries this year in our Parish and a couple of rather unpleasant incidents in which people with unpleasant motives have gained access to the rectory under false pretenses. One can no longer simply allow anyone unknown into the rectory anymore, even if they simply request to see the priest. They stay firmly outside on the other side of the security gate until their reason for being on our doorstep has been firmly established. This, of course, does not apply to people who are known to the Parish. Luckily no one was injured in the abovementioned incidents. However, it is certainly not pleasant to have to treat people in this way but it has, unfortunately, become very necessary.

Please say a prayer for Fr Blondel and for the Missionaries of Africa who do so much good work in the Diepsloot community and elsewhere.