Two Jesuit priests found dead in Moscow flat 29/10/2008 10:58 MOSCOW, October 29 (RIA Novosti) - Two Jesuit priests were found murdered in their flat in central Moscow on Tuesday evening, a Russian Catholic Church official said on Wednesday.
Otto Messmer, who heads the Russian Independent Region of the Society of Jesus, and Colombian priest Victor Betancourt (Ruiz), were found dead in their apartment on Petrovka Street, with severe bodily injuries.
"They did not answer telephone calls, so their brothers in the order went to their apartment, where they found them already dead," Igor Kovalevsky, the general secretary of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Russia, told reporters.
The motive for the killing is not known, he said.
Earlier reports said the priests were injured in a fight near their house involving two other individuals. A local police source said the clerics died from injuries sustained in the fighting.
Eyewitness said a man of Hispanic appearance, aged around 40, killed the priests.
The Russian Independent Region of the Society of Jesus, which was officially registered in June 1992, carries out educational and missionary work throughout the Commonwealth of Independent States.
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This is tragic news. I knew Victor Betencourt Ruiz on the first European Tertianship in Dublin two years ago. He was good, solid and dependable, a typical Ecuadorean with a Conquistador background. What makes his death even more difficult for his family is that he had to return to Ecuador on two occasions to minister to his dying grandfather and father and to a nephew who almost died in a car accident. This will be hard for his mother and I hope many will pray for her as well as for the souls of him and his companion. The Jesuits in Russia have a particularly hard and demanding apostolate and both were indispensable to the mission. They too need Masses, prayers and financial support.
October 29, 2008 11:10 AM