(03 Jun 10 – RV) A “horrible and incredible fact'', ''we are deeply dismayed”: this
was the first response of Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office,
on hearing the news of the assassination of Mgr. Luigi Padovese, Apostolic Vicar of
Anatolia and President of the Turkish Bishops' Conference. As of yet the circumstances
surrounding the murder are not clear, what is known is that he was stabbed to death
by his driver at approximately 1 pm local time.
Luigi Padovese was born in
Milan on March 31, 1947. On October 4, 1965 he entered the Capuchin friars and exactly
three years after that expressed his solemn vows. On 16 June 1973 he was ordained
a priest. He became Professor of Patristics at the Pontifical Antonianum University.
Before being ordained bishop he was director of the Institute for Spirituality
in the same university for 16 years. He was also visiting Professor at the Pontifical
Gregorian University and Pontifical Alphonsian Academy .
For 10 years he was
a guest at the Eastern College in Rome for the Congregation of Eastern Churches. He
was also a consultant to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. On 11 October
2004 he was appointed Apostolic Vicar of Anatolia and Titular Bishop of Monteverde.
Only recently, in a Vatican Radio interview to mark the anniversary
of the murder of Don Andrea Santoro, the Fidei Donum priest killed four years ago
in the church of Santa Maria in Trabzon, Turkey, Bishop Padovese had said :”I would
like to point out that he was killed as a symbol, because he was the reality of what
it means to be a Catholic priest. Not only was the person killed, but they wanted
to target the symbol that the person represented: remembering him at this time, within
the framework of the Year for Priests, is most significant, because it reminds us
that being a follower of Christ can lead to laying down your life”. Hear more:
Below
we publish Fr Lombardi’s full statement:
“This is a horrible news that left
us deeply shocked and of course, desperately sorry. Bishop Padovese was a person who
of great worth for the witness of the Church's life in Turkey, and even in difficult
situations, was a courageous person dedicated to the Gospel. The circumstances or
motives of this death need to be better understood, what remains is a life gifted
for the Gospel. This fact, on the eve of a Papal trip towards the Middle East, to
encourage the Christian communities living in this region, lends an extraordinary
intensity, helping us to profoundly understand the urgent need for the solidarity
of the universal Church to support these Christian communities”.