Murdered priest sent letter to Pope Benedict before death

In follow-up to the story mentioned below, Rocco has translated into English a letter this poor priest in Turkey wrote to Pope Benedict inviting him to visit his parish before he was murdered. L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, published the letter today:

"Your Holiness,I write you in the name of the Georgian women of my parish, "Santa Maria" in Trabzon (Trebisonda) on the Black Sea in Turkey. They've dictated to me in Turkish, I've translated and sent it from their mouth so you could have it on the time for my coming to Rome. I am Don Andrea Santoro, a "Fidei donum" [gift of Faith] priest of the church of Rome in Turkey, in the diocese of Anatolia, and have been here for five years. My flock is made up of 8 or 9 Catholics, many Orthodox of the city and the Muslims who form 99 percent of the population."

Read the rest of the letter.

They've cought the kid who shot Father Santoro, and he has admitted to murdering the priest because of the recent cartoons in European newspapers:

"The suspect told interrogators Tuesday that he killed the Rev. Andrea Santoro to avenge the publication of drawings depicting the prophet as a terrorist, Turkish newspapers and CNN-Turk television reported Wednesday, citing anonymous police officials."

Read the AP story.