Priest Attacked, Tied Up, and Robbed in Pastoral Center
Rutumbu Juvenal, the priest in charge of the parish of Palaiseau, was attacked by two armed men on December 16, 2016 at the church's pastoral center.
The two men hit the priest in the face and told him to get on the ground. When he did not obey fast enough, they also gave him a blow to the knee. Once on the ground, the priest's feet and hands were tied with the stoles he wears during Mass.
"One of them stayed with me; the other was searching everywhere," said Father Juvenal. "They took my watch and €150 in an envelope that was in my bag. That was all I had." The aggressors also seized the keys to the presbytery, where Father Juvenal lived next door.
Father Juvenal, 62, said believed that he was going to die: "Lately we know that we are targets," said the Rwanda-born priest. He said that when the two hooded men entered with their pistol "I thought it was over." He "remembered what happened in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray," where a priest was murdered in July. "But when they said: We know that you are rich, give us your money, I told myself that I was saved."
Father Juvenal, 62, said believed that he was going to die: "Lately we know that we are targets," said the Rwanda-born priest. He said that when the two hooded men entered with their pistol "I thought it was over." He "remembered what happened in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray," where a priest was murdered in July. "But when they said: We know that you are rich, give us your money, I told myself that I was saved."
Father Juvenal said that since sometimes priests live and work in beautiful places, the attackers must have assumed he was rich.
Source: Le Parisien