Cardinal Ruini describes Priest murdered in Turkey as a martyr

The Associated Press reports:

"ANKARA, Turkey -- A teenage boy shot and killed the Italian Roman Catholic priest of a church in the Black Sea port city of Trabzon on Sunday, shouting "God is great" as he escaped, according to police and witnesses."

[Apparently the priest was shot in Church after Mass, in the back, twice...]

"The police official would not say if the attack might be linked to the printing in European newspapers of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, which has caused anger in Muslim countries. Earlier Sunday, hundreds of Turks protested in Istanbul against the cartoons."

Read the rest of the AP article.

Catholic News Agency has the reaction of Cardinal Ruini upon hearing the news:

"Rome, Feb. 07, 2006 (CNA) - Upon receiving news from the murder of Fr. Andrea Santoro, the Vicar of the Diocese of Rome, Cardinal Camillo Ruini declared that these events are the "new link in the long chain of priests from the Diocese of Rome who have shed their blood for the Lord,” and assured that the Diocese is grateful to the Lord for his “brilliant testimony with the humble certainty that from it, new Christian life will rise.”

Read the rest.

Pope Benedict also offered prayers for the slain priest, saying he hoped "that the blood that he shed will become the seeds of hope for building an authentic fraternity among peoples."

The Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, suggested Monday the slaying was related to recent protests in the Muslim world over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, saying in a front-page article that the killing "fits into the climate of tension in recent days."

Read the rest of this AP article.

The slain priest's funeral will be held in Rome's main basilica St. John Lateran.

[thanks to AP for the photo]