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Priest killed as he finishes preaching
Larry Penzes, the 50-year-old priest of Our Lady of Peace Church in Lynbrook, Long Island, New York, was shot to death at the altar yesterday while celebrating Mass. Eileen Tosner, a 72-year-old parishioner, was also killed. Their murderer reportedly just walked in, pulled a .22-caliber rifle out of his coat, and opened fire. Others in the congregation—there were about 40 at the time, most of them elderly—chased the shooter out of the church and took his gun. He reportedly ran home. Police arrested Peter Troy, a 34-year-old with no apparent connections to the church.

"National Catholic officials said they could recall no other killing of a priest in this country while he was celebrating Mass," reported The New York Times, though "the killing of Father Penzes prompted some to compare the circumstances of his death to the killing of the archbishop of San Salvador, Oscar Arnulfo Romero, who was shot while saying Mass in 1980. In 1985, a deranged man killed a priest in Onalaska, Wis., inside his church."

"This appears to be a fatal mix of a grievance, mental illness and a firearm," says an editorial in Long Island's Newsday. "Penzes was known as a man with a large heart, who succeeded in drawing large numbers of people into active roles in the parish. At 50, he had many productive years ahead of him, but a spasm of violence, aided by the barrel of a rifle, has cut him down and broken the heart of his people."

The editorial has an implied call for gun control, but a column in the paper calls for spiritual reflection. This sad event, writes Matthew Carolan, "reminds us of why we must pray. Because there is evil in the world. And because we do not know the day or the hour, but only that we must someday die. … For a time, fear of what happened yesterday may frighten some people away from their houses of worship. Security may be re-evaluated. These would be understandable reactions. But, at some point, faith in one's community must be restored. Otherwise, worship will be impossible."

That sentiment was also made by some of the church's parishioners. "If we're not safe in a church, that's pretty bad," Karen Aker told The New York Times. "This is where people get peace. It's where they go to pray. This is awful." Indeed it is.

Other stories on religion and murder:

• Prayer ground deaths: Nwodo calls on government to investigate | Poisonous gas alleged in deaths of 14 (This Day, Lagos, Nigeria)
  
  
• 1998 baptism 'gave new life' to struggling prostitute | Sereena Abotsway is alleged murder victim of Robert (Willy) Pickton (Vancouver Sun)
  
  
• A child's death raises questions about faith | A couple who prayed instead of seeking medical care for their daughter face charges of involuntary manslaughter. (Los Angeles Times)
  
  

Eugene Rivers accused of discriminating against Muslim
Ex-con Gerald Jones has filed a discrimination complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination against one of America's best-known ministers, Eugene Rivers, reports The Boston Globe. Jones says he was kicked out of Rivers's Ella J. Baker House, which includes rehabilitation for convicts among its programs, because he was a Muslim. Andre Norman, a Baker House worker also named in the complaint, says Jones left because of a drinking problem. "The charges are groundless, but it's a free country and people can sue who they wish," Rivers told the Globe. The Baker House, a frequent example for supporters of Bush's faith-based initative, has posted its nondiscrimination policy on its Web site. The Globe doesn't note that Rivers's father was personally recruited to the Nation of Islam by Malcolm X.

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March (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46