Letter from Archbishop Maroun Lahham, Tunisia, published yesterday, 23 February, in memory of Fr Marek Rybinski, killed in Manouba, Friday 18 February.

Dear all,

We are still going through events here (I leave the word without an adjective). Now it is Fr. Marek, a 34 year-old Salesian, who was in Tunisia since 2007 and whose throat was cut in a store room at the Salesian school in Manouba.

The Interior Ministry has released a statement indicating that the killer was a carpenter at the school. The Salesian priests say that he had borrowed 2,000 dinars (from them) during the recent Eid three months ago,  to buy equipment for his work. It seems he spent the money on something else, the supplier refused to give him the items for which he had not paid, and Fr Marek had insisted that the money be repaid to the school. Panicking and afraid he would be found out, the statement from the Ministry of the  Interior says, "the killer took him by surprise and repeatedly clubbed him with a blunt instrument around the neck and throat, which caused his death. The killer then hid him for fear of being discovered".

Once the legal formalities have been completed, we will celebrate a Solemn Mass at the Cathedral before his body is to be returned to Poland. The day and time of the ceremony will also be published.

What can I say? Horror, sadness, anger, appalled, concerned, afraid, in doubt ... all mixed up together. Why was Fr Marek murdered? For two thousand dinars? We hardly think so. Certainly there are details that I would not know. By contrast, there are things I do know:

- I know that Fr Marek, two weeks before he was killed, had written of Tunisia and its people: "it is a young, intelligent nation, incapable of violence (sic); they are profoundly good people, not capable of hate".

- I know he had just written his first book on Tunisia where he says among other things: "During my time in Tunisia, my attitude towards my Muslim brothers has changed dramatically. The fear of terrorism and extremism has completely disappeared. Tunisians are so welcoming, friendly and warm. It is they who have taught me this attitude".

- I know he offered to volunteer for Tunisia four years ago, when he was just ordained.

- I know he had sought money from everywhere to build new premises for the school he loved and of which he was the economer (bursar).

I imagine myself faced with his killer, wanting to ask him some questions: Why did you really kill Fr Marek? And why in this barbaric way? Did not his youth and innocence inspire no sense of pity in you? Nor his physical frailty? You knocked him out with a hammer, wasn`t that enough? Did you need to cut his throat and let him swim in his own blood? How could you sleep after that? What stuff are you really made of? What religion do you profess? Are you among those who believe in God the Compassionate, the Merciful (Al Rahman Al Rahim)? How can you reconcile this crime with your faith?

Answer these questions, reassure us, reassure our paternal and fraternal hearts ... Afterwards, I promise you forgiveness. First you will have to ask forgiveness from God, then from the Catholic Church in Tunisia.

"If the seed falls to the ground and dies .... "... He fell, he died, and the example of Christ, which Fr Marek had consecrated himself to, has borne fruit. All the messages of solidarity, all the scenes of sympathy, flowers laid at the door of the Cathedral, Tunisian men and women who demonstrated outside the Cathedral chanting: "Marek, we are sorry!" Young Tunisians came to the Cathedral on Sunday 20th with flowers, tears in their eyes ... "We did not kill him", they said, "it is not Tunisia that did it ... Forgive us!" and they embraced the Sisters as they left.

Official reactions have been similar; the Prime Minister, the Ministry of the  Interior, Foreign Affairs, Labor, Education, Religious Affairs, Tourism, Arab and Foreign Ambassadors, even the Al Nahda Islamic party  .... Did it take the murder of a priest to bring about all this sympathy and affection for us? The price is very high. We greatly appreciate all these gestures of friendship, but they are not worth one drop of blood of our Marek.

And now? Well, we`re moving on. This is no time to panic, it is a time for faith, patience, precaution. Leave? No question, that difficult times are not times to run away from. I say in my own name first, and I believe I can speak on behalf of everyone from the Church in Tunisia and on behalf of all Christians in the country and I also say it to our Muslim and Jewish brothers and sisters: we will remain in this country which has accepted us, which loves us and which we in turn love. We will also remain here with you because we want to be enriched by you and by what makes you different, and we also want to offer you the values we believe in and that we try to live out, despite our weakness; values that can bring you an increase of faith and hope and confidence.

Life is stronger than death, and so is love.

+ Maroun Lahham
Archbishop

Translation by the Editorial group (original in French)

Published 24/02/2011