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Catholic priest stabbed in an attack in Poland

10 June 2019 18:12 (UTC +04:00)

A Catholic priest in Poland was seriously wounded by an assailant in a violent stabbing attack on the steps of a church in the city of Wroclaw. His condition is reportedly serious, but stable, as he was rushed by medics to a local hospital on Monday, APA reports citing Sputnik.

The priest has undergone surgery for chest wounds and is now out of immediate danger, Wroclaw University Hospital has said. The assailant has been arrested, but his motive remains unclear. According to police spokesman Krzysztof Zaporowski the attacker approached the priest in stealth outside the Holiest Mary church in the city's ancient Ostrow Tumski district.

The perpetrator first spoke to the priest, who was heading inside the church to prepare the altar for mass, before suddenly stabbing him in the chest. As police are puzzling over the motive that drove the assailant to commit the heinous crime, Poland's large Catholic community is still in shock after the May release of a revealing documentary titled Tell No One, which revealed the scope of widespread sexual abuse by the clergy.