[Music] Brother Roger, founder of Taize, has been murdered

[Robert Waldrop]

Eternal rest grant to him O Lord, and may
perpetual light shine upon him.  May his soul, and
the souls of all the faithful departed, through
the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Robert Waldrop, Epiphany Church, OKC

FOUNDER OF RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY SLAIN IN FRANCE
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-08-17-brother-roger_x.htm

PICTURE: (Brother Roger founded the Taize
religious community in
1940.  Miguel Riopa, AFP/Getty Images.)
http://images.usatoday.com/news/_photos/2005/08/17/roger-inside.jpg

TAIZE, France (AP) - Brother Roger, the
90-year-old founder of an
ecumenical religious community dedicated to peace
and
reconciliation, was knifed to death by a woman at
an evening prayer
service attended by 2,500 people, authorities
said.

The slaying was deplored Wednesday by the pope and
the head of the
Anglican Church, who called the slain monk "one of
the best-loved
Christian leaders of our time."

An all-night prayer vigil was held following the
fatal attack
Tuesday night in the church at Taize, in Burgundy.

A Romanian woman wielding a knife killed
silver-haired Brother
Roger, witnesses said. A community spokesman,
Brother Emile, said
the monk's throat was cut and he died 15 minutes
later.

Taize officials said the woman had arrived two
days earlier among
thousands of pilgrims who visit the site.
Prosecutor Jean-Louis
Coste said the woman, reportedly 36 years old, had
bought the knife
the day before.

"It would appear for now there is little doubt
that this was
premeditated since she bought a knife the day
before and voluntary
homicide is manifest," Coste told reporters
without naming the
woman.

Coste said the woman detained for questioning by
police., He said
she was not "unbalanced enough to justify
psychiatric care."

People at the service grabbed the woman, who had
sprung from the
crowd, and turned her over to police.

Brother Roger founded the Taize religious
community in 1940
emphasizing the need for all Christians to come
together in peace,
love and reconciliation. The Taize ecumenical
community, which is
near Macon, 240 miles southeast of Paris, draws
tens of thousands of
Christian youths from around the world each year
for prayer and
meditation.

Pope Benedict XVI said he had received a "very
moving and very
friendly letter" just Tuesday from Brother Roger.
Benedict spoke of
the "very sad and terrifying news."

"This is an indescribable shock," said Archbishop
of Canterbury
Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the Church of
England. "Brother
Roger was one of the best-loved Christian leaders
of our time and
hundreds of thousands will be feeling his loss
very personally, and
remembering him in prayer and gratitude."

President Jacques Chirac praised Brother Roger as
"one of the most
remarkable servants of the values of respect and
tolerance," while
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said he
regarded Brother Roger
as one of the "great contemporary personalities of
religious life."

Schroeder praised him for sheltering Jewish
refugees during World
War II and later fostering reconciliation in
Europe.