Pope: May Fr Santoro “become the seed of hope for building authentic brotherhood”

I am deeply saddened by the murder of Fr. Santoro Link

here is a brief bit of info from another story:

A Catholic priest has been shot dead in northern Turkey by a man apparently shouting the Islamic acclamation 'God is great'.

It was not immediately clear if there was any link to the Danish cartoons protests.

A Vatican official identified the priest as a 59-year-old Father Andrew Santoro from a small town near Rome, a member of the Santa Maria Catholic Church in Trabzon.

The Turkish Government has strongly condemned the murder.

A quote from the Turkish prime minister:

"Killing a priest in a holy place can't be approved. Officials will work hard to throw light on the situation."

Another quote for an article:

Pope Benedict XVI's envoy in Ankara, Monsignor Antonio Lucibello, said he had spoken with a witness _ an Italian woman who worked with the priest _ who said Santoro had been killed while he was ``kneeling in the first row of the church'' and praying.

``He didn't see his attacker face-to-face,'' Lucibello said, adding that the witness said she heard the young man shout ``Allahu Akbar'' as he fled.

Another article (link):

His Christian and Muslim neighbours and acquaintances are shocked, still wondering what might be behind the murder of a friendly man who had no enemies.

What people fail to understand is that these killings are usually not personal, but are also the most personal you can get at the same time. Fr. Santoro was not killed for who we was, and in that way it is not personal. He was killed for what he was and what he believed, and in that way it cuts to the core of the personal.

Faith is both personal and universal. It helps define us, nurture us and support us...but it unites us as one in One Body. Those who attack Christians do not attack the individual, they may claim reasons (usually spreading the faith or an imagined or real slight) but their attack is on the One Body.

But that body has been broken, the blood has been shed for all. It can not be touched, for it is the Body of Christ. Faith is personal and as one. Faith (and also Marriage), in a very real way is a reflection of the Trinity. In the Trinity three are One, all are individual but still One and that is One unto itself.

He was killed while praying. Another line that causes my heart and prayers to go out is:

`It's a small community, only about 15 Catholics, but it's important because we've been there for hundreds of years, since the beginning.''

There are only 15 people in his Church. My heart and prayers go out to this community in their time of trial. Although they are only 15, they are part of the One Body in Christ. Through their faith and suffering they are linked to all who believe and all who suffer, in Christ the Lord. We are One in the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, may He grant us peace.