A Catholic bishop in Tunisia expressed fear of growing Islamic extremism
in the area after a 34 year-old Polish missionary priest was found
brutally killed on Feb. 18.
As local protests took place in the
wake the murder, Archbishop Lahham Marun Elias of Tunis told Vatican
Radio on Feb. 19 that he believes “an Islamic movement” directed against
“all non-Muslims” is growing in influence within the country.
The
body of Fr. Marek Marius Rybinski – a Polish Salesian missionary – was
discovered last Friday in the parking lot of the local Salesian school,
which is located in the Tunis suburb of Manouma.
Although the Associated
Press reported that his throat was slit, the Vatican-based Fides news
agency stated that the priest was beheaded.
Over the weekend,
hundreds participated in demonstrations including students from the
school and their parents, who mourned the priest's untimely death and
brought photographs, cards and flowers to the school in remembrance.
On
Feb. 18, Archbishop Lahham presided over a Mass in honor of Fr. Rybinski
at the Cathedral of Tunis.
In an interview with Vatican Radio
broadcast after the Mass, Archbishop Lahham recounted the incidents
leading up to the murder.
He reported that several weeks ago the local
Salesian Fathers had received a threatening letter written in excellent
French.
The correspondence was addressed to “the Jews,” demanded money
and threatened to kill everyone in the house if they failed to
cooperate.
The archbishop said the letter was signed “with a Nazi
swastika,” and explained “for the ordinary people” in the area, “if you
are not a Muslim you are a Jew.” He recalled a recent demonstration in
front of the local synagogue in which an Islamic group “told the Jews to
leave because the army of Muhammad was on the way.”
He went on
to say that Fr. Rybinski, who served as a bursar for the community,
departed from the mission house around noon on Feb. 17, leaving his car
at the mission.
The next day, “we found the computer in his room turned
on. We therefore believe that someone called him with an excuse to get
him to leave the house.”
“That person kidnapped Fr. Rybinski,”
the archbishop said, “and then killed him the next day. His body was
found in a warehouse at the school. The murderer, or murderers, are
people who are familiar with the buildings, because the warehouse is
hidden behind the school, and they also knew that Fr. Rybinski had the
keys.”
“I saw his body at around 1:00 p.m. before the blood was
coagulated, a fact confirmed by the coroner. So the murder took place a
few hours before.”
Archbishop Lahham said that police have
increased the number of guards in front of local churches in order to
protect them.
He added that the Tunisian government has assigned blame
for the murder to a “group of extremist terrorists,” underscoring that
until recently, Tunisia has traditionally been a country of peaceful
co-existence between cultures and religions.