Ecumenical Leader Slain in Church

Church leaders and politicians joined an outpouring of sorrow Wednesday for the slaying of Brother Roger, the renowned founder of a French ecumenical community who died after a woman stabbed him during evening prayers.

The frail 90-year-old monk died shortly after the attack Tuesday night at the headquarters of the community in Taize in the south of the Burgundy region. His assailant was a 36-year-old Romanian who had tried to join the community this month, authorities said Wednesday.

“He was a man of peace,” French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said. “He had managed to establish a spiritual dialogue between the [Roman] Catholic Church and other churches. We won’t forget his message.”

The news reached Pope Benedict XVI at his retreat at Castel Gandolfo on the eve of his departure for World Youth Day ceremonies in Cologne, Germany. Expressing sorrow and horror, the pope said that only a day earlier he had received a “very moving and very friendly letter” from Brother Roger saying that although his health would not permit him to attend the event, “with all his heart he would be with the pope and all others who were in Cologne.”

Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said, “Brother Roger was one of the best-loved Christian leaders of our time.”

Brother Roger, whose surname was Schutz, became an icon of reconciliation in the lives of individuals and among often competing churches.

When he founded the Taize ecumenical community in 1940, he was 25 and the world was in the throes of war. He and his brothers committed their lives to practicing celibacy, sharing their worldly goods and taking spiritual walks, emphasizing the simplicity of life.

The community grew to international prominence for its work of reconciliation, particularly in reaching out to youths and young adults. The late Pope John Paul II, who placed great importance on working with other churches and faiths, visited the Taize community in October 1986.

Brother Roger “was hugely important in the Protestant-Catholic church [reconciliation] in Europe after the Second World War,” said the Rev. Wilma Jakobsen of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena. “I think we have no idea just how far his influence extended.”

Over the years, the community has been visited by three archbishops of Canterbury, Eastern Orthodox metropolitan bishops, 14 Lutheran bishops of Sweden and countless pastors from around the world.

On Tuesday night before the slaying, about 2,500 people were in the Taize church for evening prayers accompanied by a choir of monks. Alain Duphil, a worshiper from southern France, said he saw a woman rise and walk toward Brother Roger.

“Many people thought she was a mother going to be next to her child because there were many children around Brother Roger,” Duphil told the newspaper Le Parisien. “The woman went behind Brother Roger and some people thought she was strangling him. Someone screamed. A monk and some young guy grabbed her.”

Police identified the suspect only by her first name, Luminita. She told interrogators that she had not intended to kill the cleric but only get his attention, according to Jean-Louis Coste, a prosecutor. She had purchased the knife used in the assault Monday, he said at a news conference.

“She seems deranged, but she can express herself and is coherent,” Coste said.

Brother Roger was stabbed in the neck and died shortly afterward as emergency personnel tried to revive him.

A native of Switzerland and son of a Swiss Protestant pastor, Roger suffered for years from tuberculosis, according to the community’s website.

After the outbreak of World War II, the small village of Taize was close to the demarcation line that divided the portions of France controlled by German forces and the French Vichy government.

It was, the community said, strategically located for welcoming refugees, including Jews hiding from the Nazis.

Warned that German forces were aware of their activities, Roger and his sister, Genevieve, left in the autumn of 1942 but returned in 1944.

In the interval, a few other religious brothers had joined the order in Taize. Today, more than 100 brothers -- Catholics and Protestants -- from more than 25 nations are members of the community.

Roger is the author of numerous books and meditations, including “God Is Love Alone,” “Peace of Heart in All Things” and “The Wonder of a Love.”

With the late Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Brother Roger co-wrote “Meditations on the Way of the Cross” in 1986.

The community announced that the funeral would be held Tuesday.

Brother Roger is succeeded as community leader by Brother Alois, a 51-year-old German Catholic, whom Roger chose as his successor eight years ago.

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Rotella reported from Paris and Stammer from Los Angeles. Times staff writer Achrene Sicakyuz in Paris contributed to this report.