Catholic Priest Stabbed before Mass in Poland

A Catholic priest in Poland Fr. Dr. Ireneusz Bakalarczyk, 38 years old, suffered wounds to the chest and had to undergo surgery, according to Monika Kowalska, a spokeswoman for the city’s University Clinical Hospital. Fr. Ireneusz, a member of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), was responsible for the Latin Mass in the parish and he was part of the curia notary.

She described the priest's condition as stable. A 57-year-old man suspected of carrying out the attack was stopped by police immediately after the incident, the PAP news agency reported. It quoted a spokesman for police, Krzysztof Zaporowski, as saying that the incident occurred shortly before 7 am on Monday in front of the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the Sand in the city centre. "The man approached the priest, started a conversation with him, and then stabbed him with a knife," Zaporowski said, as quoted by PAP. He added that the detained man was being questioned by investigators. His motives were not immediately clear.

Archbishop Metropolitan of Wroclaw Józef Kupny on Twitter wrote that he prayed for the intention of Father Ireneusz and appealed to the faithful to pray for the priest's recovery.