A Catholic priest is dead and four other people are wounded after a stabbing rampage at a centuries-old abbey in southeastern Poland on Thursday. Police say a 31-year-old Ukrainian man carrying a knife entered the Benedictine Sisters Monastery complex in Jaroslaw during Mass and attacked five people—three priests, another man, and a woman—in the church cafeteria and the adjoining Church of St. Nicholas and St. Stanislaus the Bishop, per the AP, People, and the Telegraph. The priest who died has been identified as Stanislaw Zbojnowicz, who died after being taken to the hospital with a stab wound to the chest, according to local authorities.
A second priest is said to have suffered serious injuries. Per the Catholic Herald, that priest had initially been reported to have died, but that report turned out to be erroneous. Poland’s interior minister said on social media that the suspect was quickly detained and that investigators are working to determine a motive. The city’s mayor activated crisis management measures and tightened security at nearby schools as forensic teams combed the historic site for evidence.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his condolences after the attack, calling it “horrific,” per Reuters, which describes a scene of “total panic” at the abbey after the assault, according to a nun at the scene. “We are shaken by this evil,” Zelensky wrote on X. “The perpetrator of this evil must bear full responsibility in accordance with the law.” He added: “It is painful that people are capable of such evil crimes. Justice must be done.”