Priest Brutally Assaulted in Szczecin Church
A Catholic priest was beaten up just before celebrating Mass by three men in the sacristy of the Basilica of St. John the Baptist in Szczecin. One of the perpetrators apparently used a rosary as a "brass knuckle."
Pastor Aleksander Ziejewski, 68, was attacked on July 28th shortly before the 18:00 Mass. He had heard a cry for help from the sacristan: three men had entered the sacristy and tried to steal a chasuble - on the grounds that they needed it to celebrate Mass, the priest said.
According to "Radio Szczecin" the men, who also demanded other religious objects, wanted to rob the church.
Father Ziejewski told EWTN Poland that he had entered the sacristy and asked the men to leave. In the process, "one of them became angry" and started swearing and shoving both the sacristan and the sexton.
The same man then attacked the priest before all three finally fled. Father Ziejewski said the attackers were "possessed by some kind of devilish fury."
The beaten up priest said that the man apparently wrapped a rosary stolen from the sacristy around his hand and used it as a kind of brass knuckles.
It was "covered in blood," said the priest. A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Szczecin-Kamień said that the priest had to be operated on because of the severity of his wounds.
According to police in Szczecin, the three men, aged 27 to 53, were arrested and presented to the arresting judge.
The diocesan spokesman stressed that the attack could be anti-religiously motivated: The men entered the sacristy during the day, shortly before the beginning of the publicly announced celebration of the evening mass, where therefore inevitably Catholics had to be in the church.
"We recommend praying for the victims of this brutal physical attack and for the conversion and repentance of the perpetrators," said the diocesan spokesman.
Sources: Novena News (and photo credit) and CNA Deutsch