Jesuit Fr. Frans Van der Lugt’s brutal murder in Syria mourned by Pope, fellow Jesuit

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has publicly mourned the “brutal murder” of his Jesuit confrere Fr. Frans van der Lugt , a 75 year old Dutch priest living among and assisting the war-torn population of Homs, Syria. On Monday, Fr. Frans was lured outside the Jesuit residence in Homs by an unidentified assailant who beat him and then shot him twice in the head.

Speaking at Wednesday’s General Audience in Rome, the Pope appealed for an end to the conflict and spoke of his “profound pain” on hearing the news of Fr. Frans’ killing, and the on-going trials of “the many people who suffer and die in that tortured country, my beloved Syria.”

Syria was beloved also to Fr. Frans, who had lived there since the 1970s, offering spiritual and psychological support especially to young people in Damascus and later in Homs, where he and a small group of other Jesuits run a center for the disabled.

Jesuit Fr. Samir Khalil Samir who runs the Beirut, Lebanon center for academic dialogue between Arab Christians and Muslims, CEDRAC (Center for Documentation and Research on Arab Christianity) was a friend of Fr. Frans. He says even though Fr. Frans knew he would probably be killed because he was a Christian and a foreigner, he was determined to stay in Homs to help his beleaguered people. Fr. Samir notes that over the last three years of conflict between government forces and opposition rebels, Fr. Frans, refused to leave them “even for one day.”

Listen to Tracey McClure’s extended interview with Fr. Samir Khalil Samir:

"He was totally dedicated to help(ing) people," says Fr. Samir. "He’s probably the only one who didn’t leave the house, our residence in Homs, not for even one day. He decided to remain, day and night there in the Jesuit residence receiving people the whole day. Anyone who needed to be helped, knew that he would find help (through) Fr. Frans. Help meant to give him to eat, to sleep… any kind of help. The house was open to everyone, Christians and Muslims. He refused to make any distinction between (them). That’s a very important point – no difference between Christians and Muslims. A person is a person and needs help, and that’s all.”