Rwandan who set fire to Nantes cathedral, clubs priest to death

Abayisenga, a Rwandan who arrived in France in 2012, was arrested in the gendarmerie of Mortagne-sur-Sèvre in Vendée. He told the police he brutally murdered a 60-year-old priest. The latter had hosted him in the Montfortian community of Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre since last year.

The African had been instructed to leave French territory and was thus given what is known in French as a “OQTF” or “obligation de quitter la France” in July 2020. Abayisenga, found guilty of arson after the terrible fire in the cathedral of Nantes last year, had been issued the OQTF even before the fire. In fact, the African’s asylum requests had been rejected no less than four times.

#Nantes : Le Rwandais, qui a avoué avoir incendié la cathédrale, faisait l’objet d’une obligation de quitter le territoire. Il a été « protégé par l’évêché » https://t.co/gswjryfkIk pic.twitter.com/5V7cOUFzNz

— Fdesouche.com est une revue de presse (@F_Desouche) July 26, 2020

The arsonist was jailed for several months after the destruction in Nantes and released under judicial supervision last June pending trial. The alleged perpetrator had just been released from a psychiatric hospital and had been accommodated by the community of Montfort missionary brothers since May 31, according to a source close to the investigation.

The body of Father Olivier Maire, 61, was found in a room in the community announced Yannick Le Goater, the deputy prosecutor of La Roche-sur-Yon, during a press conference given on Monday afternoon. The priest was clubbed to death. The deputy prosecutor clarified that he was unable to provide more information as to the motive which led Emmanuel Abayisenga.

François Jacolin, bishop of Luçon, said Olivier Mayor died as “a victim of his generosity, a martyr for charity”. The Catholic brothers of Monfort, responded to the murder by stating: “We regret nothing.”