After attempting to disarm a man stabbing a priest at a Catholic church in Nice, southeastern France, a 72-year-old nun sister has been commended for her “amazing heroism.”
Sister Marie-Claude is said to have interfered after a 31-year-old man repeatedly stabbed Father Krzysztof Rudziski in the Saint-Pierre d’Arene church before Sunday Mass on April 24.
She was rushed to the hospital with the 57-year-old priest after suffering a forearm wound.
The Diocese of Nice said in a statement on April 24 that neither the sister nor the priest were seriously hurt in the event, which police said had nothing to do with terrorism.
Extraordinaire courage de la sœur Marie-Claude qui est intervenue alors que l’agresseur continuait de poignarder le père Christophe. Elle lui a arraché le couteau tout en étant blessée à l’avant bras. pic.twitter.com/ABOjo4fOpk
— Eric Ciotti (@ECiotti) April 24, 2022
Father Rudziski, who was born in the town of Suchowola in northeastern Poland, is thought to have been stabbed up to 20 times, mostly in the chest.
Bishop Piotr Turzyski, the delegate of the Polish bishops for pastoral care of Polish immigrants, requested prayers for the priest and sister.
According to the Polish Catholic news agency KAI, Francis remarked, “In a spirit of solidarity, I dedicate the health of the wounded to God’s mercy.”
The perpetrator, who was apprehended on the spot, was described by the Nice diocese as “obviously mentally disturbed.”
The individual told police that he wanted to assassinate Emmanuel Macron, who was re-elected president of France on Sunday, according to French media reports.
The assailant, a French citizen who described himself as Jewish, had previously received mental therapy, according to the French Catholic magazine Famille chrétienne.
In October 2020, an Islamist attack in Nice targeted Catholics. Three individuals were stabbed to death at the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Nice by an assailant.
“The Catholic community of the Alpes-Maritimes has been touched by tragedy once more. “And once again, right in the heart of Nice,” the Diocese of Nice announced on Sunday.