personal envoy in Bujumbura, the capital of this mainly Catholic African nation, reports said Wednesday, December 31.
58-year-old Irish born Archbishop Michael Courtney died during surgery at a hospital in Bujumbura after the car he was traveling in was sprayed with bullets from a nearby hill, the Vatican and other sources confirmed.
Burundi’s President Domitien Ndayizeye was reportedly at his bedside shortly after the attack, in which a fellow priest was slightly injured.
It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attack, which took place less than 50 kilometers (apr. 31 miles) from the capital.
AUTHORITIES BLAME REBELS
Burundi’s authorities have blamed rebels of the National Liberation Forces (NLF) but the group has denied involvement and blamed the army, the Voice of America (VOA) network reported.
Unlike the country’s main rebel group, the Forces for the Defense of Democracy, the NLF did not join in the peace process.
In a letter to the head of Burundi’s bishops conference, the pope said he was deeply moved by the terrible news of the violent death of the Irish-born prelate. He described Archbishop Courtney as "a loyal and unselfish servant of the Church."
FUNERAL SERVICE
A funeral service was to be held Wednesday, December 31, in Bujumbura, after which the prelate’s body will be flown to his native Ireland for burial, several news reports said.
Archbishop Michael Courtney, who became a papal representative in 1980, had served in Burundi since 2000. Before his Burundi assignment, Courtney worked in a a number of other countries, including South Africa, Zimbabwe, Senegal, India, Yugoslavia, Cuba and Egypt.
The latest incident underscored the tensions in Burundi, which has seen periodic massacres with thousands of people, including in the 1990’s, as Tutsis and Hutus fought for power. Burundi is with roughly 6 million people the 5th smallest country on mainland Africa.
