Assassination of Father Olivier Maire: “the suspect was not deportable”, indicates Gérald Darmanin

→ THE STORY OF THE DAY: Murder of a priest in Vendée: the “pain” and “incomprehension” of Catholics

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⇒ 7:00 p.m. [GÉRALD DARMANIN] The suspect was “not deportable”

Arrived on site at the end of the afternoon, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin declared at the end of his visit to have come “To offer condolences to this congregation”. To questions about the controversy born after the announcement of the murder, the minister recalled that the suspect was “Not deportable” because of the measure of judicial control to which he was forced.

→ READ. Priest killed in Vendée: the suspect was hospitalized in psychiatry in July

“This man is not registered in the radicalization files, he is not a Muslim. Now is not the time for controversy, but for condolences ”, said the minister.

⇒ 6:00 p.m. [PORTRAIT] Father Olivier Maire, the Gospel to the end

A man “Very generous, pleasant and erudite “. These words keep coming back to those who knew Father Olivier Maire, provincial superior of the Montfortian missionaries, assassinated on Monday August 9 at the age of 60.

Born in 1961 in Besançon (Doubs), he made his solemn profession among the Montfortians at the age of 25 in 1986, before being ordained a priest four years later, in 1990.

→ FIND HIS PORTRAIT HERE. Father Olivier Maire, “the Gospel to the end”

⇒ 5:50 p.m. [HOSPITALISATION] The suspect had been treated in psychiatry in July

The man was released on July 29 from a psychiatric hospitalization where he had been treated for more than a month, said at a press point the deputy prosecutor of La Roche-Sur-Yon, Yannick Le Goater.

The magistrate said that an investigation was opened to ” voluntary homicide “ and that in the state, “No motive linked to a terrorist motive” did not appear in this case.

⇒ 4:00 p.m. [RÉACTION] Macron says “all his sympathy” to the monks of Montfortians

In a statement quoted by AFP, the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron reacted to the tragedy by expressing “All his sympathy” to the religious community of Montfortians. Prime Minister Jean Castex said for his part are “Deep disarray” and his “Deep compassion”, said Matignon.

⇒ 3:40 p.m. [ENQUÊTE] The suspect in police custody

According to a source close to the file quoted by AFP, the body of the victim was found in the common parts of the building that accommodates the community in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre and the suspect was taken into custody. . According to the first elements, the victim died after being beaten. The autopsy will determine the causes of death.

It is the Research Brigade of La Roche-sur-Yon and the Research Section of Nantes which are seized of the investigation.

⇒ 3:30 p.m. [RÉACTION] “I pray for his family”

“He will have lived following Christ to the end, in the unconditional welcome of all. While waiting for the more complete elements that the investigation will bring, I pray for his family, his religious brothers. I pray for the whole population traumatized by this tragedy, for their murderer too, in great psychological drift at least (…) ”, declared in a series of tweets the president of the Conference of the bishops of France, Mgr Éric de Moulins-Beaufort.

⇒ 3:20 p.m. [RÉACTION] A “valuable missionary”

“He was a religious, a priest and a missionary of great value, a specialist in our Montfortian spirituality. He accompanied us in the deepening of the knowledge of the spirituality of the saint who founded our congregation. (…) It really is a tragedy for us. “, said the former superior general of the Montfort missionaries, Father Santino Brembilla, on BFM.

⇒ 2:30 p.m. [POINT PRESSE] Gérald Darmanin will address the press at 6 p.m.

After his arrival on site, scheduled for 5:30 p.m., the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin must meet with the members of the Montfort Missionary Congregation. He will speak to the press at 6 p.m.

⇒ 2:15 p.m. [LES MONTFORTAINS] A missionary order

Very oriented towards charity and hospitality, the company of Montfort missionaries, of which Father Mayor was the provincial superior, is present in some thirty countries. The congregation was founded by Father Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, whose tercentenary of death was celebrated in 2016.

The missionary priest died in 1716 in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, in Vendée, where the congregation is still based and where his superior, Father Olivier Maire, was killed. The latter had been interviewed on the KTO channel on the occasion of the anniversary of the death of the founder of his congregation.

⇒ 2:00 p.m. [PREMIÈRES RÉACTIONS] Homage by Bruno Retailleau

Among the first reactions, that of Bruno Retailleau, senator (LR) of Vendée and former president of the Pays de la Loire region, who pays tribute to Father Olivier Maire. “His death testifies to the kindness of this priest whom I knew well and whose depth of faith I had been able to appreciate. “

” Homage and respect to Father Olivier Maire. His values ​​of kindness and charity must not be extinguished », Wrote the president of the Île-de-France region, Valérie Pécresse.

” A righteous man has died. Tribute to Father Olivier Maire who would undoubtedly have hated that his assassination fueled the controversy. Condolences to all who loved him. Total conviction of the criminal who laid hands on the man who offered him his hospitality “, Also indicated the first secretary of the socialist party, Olivier Faure.

Christelle Morancais, president (LR) of the region, said “Upset” by the assassination of the priest and said his “Support for all Catholics and especially the Vendée community”.

⇒ 1:45 p.m. [IDENTITÉ CONFIRMÉE] The victim is Father Olivier Maire

In one tweet, Mgr Hugues de Woillemont, secretary general of the French Bishops’ Conference, gives the identity of the victim. This is Father Olivier Maire, provincial superior of the community of Montfort missionaries, installed in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, one hour south-east of Nantes. Information confirmed by the diocese of Luçon, still on Twitter.

⇒ 13:35 [ENQUÊTE] In the head of the arsonist

The cross had published on July 15 a long investigation on the profile of the Nantes volunteer, main suspect in the arson of the cathedral of Nantes on July 18, 2020. Arrived in the city in 2012, the Rwandan put himself under the protection of the local Christian community. He had met Pope Francis in 2016 in Rome.

→ READ. In the head of the arsonist of Nantes cathedral

⇒ 1:20 p.m. [MEURTRE] A murdered priest

“All my support for the Catholics of our country after the dramatic assassination of a priest in Vendée. ” By a message posted on Twitter, the Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanin announced Monday, August 9 the brutal death of a priest in his sixties. He thus confirmed the information published a few minutes earlier on the same social network by the magazine Current values.

According to the weekly, the Rwandan man suspected of having burned down Nantes cathedral last year went to the gendarmerie in the morning to accuse himself of the murder. In an emerging controversy with the president of the National Rally Marine Le Pen about the presence of this man on the national territory, Gérald Darmanin implicitly confirmed the information. He also indicated that he would go there in the afternoon.

→ REPORT. Nantes Cathedral: in the footsteps of Emmanuel, the incendiary volunteer

The only suspect in the fire at the Nantes cathedral, Emmanuel Abayisenga was released under judicial supervision in early June, after a first request refused, according to information from The cross. He had been welcomed into a religious community and his victim would be a priest who was a member of that community.

Several of those interviewed by The cross about Emmanuel Abayisenga had alerted to his mental state, aggravated according to them by his detention.