Telegraph: A Russian Orthodox priest known for his outspoken criticism of Islam and his attempts to convert Muslims to Christianity was assassinated in his Moscow church by a masked gunman.
The gunman approached Father Daniil Sysoyev, 34, in his small wooden church in Moscow on Thursday night, checked his name and then shot the priest in the head and chest, police said.
The priest died on the way to hospital, Interfax news agency quoted investigators as saying. A choirmaster was injured in the attack, and is in hospital under armed guard.
Father Daniil, who claimed to have christened 80 Muslims, had repeatedly received death threats.
“I have received 10 threats via e-mail that I shall have my head cut off (if I do not stop preaching to Muslims)“, Father Daniil stated on a television programme in February 2008, according to Interfax. “As I see it, it is a sin not to preach to Muslims“.
The killing could increase tensions between the powerful majority Russian Orthodox Church, which has close ties to the Kremlin, and the country’s growing Muslim minority of about 20 million.
“The main theory is that religious motives are behind the crime,” a spokesman for the prosecutor-general’s office said.
Father Daniil had written books including “An Orthodox Response to Islam” and “Marrying a Muslim”, in which he advised Russian women against taking a Muslim partner.
Read more telegraph.co.uk
Loading ...
0 responses so far ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.
You must log in to post a comment.