Brother Roger, 90, Dies; Ecumenical Leader- NYT(like Divinci code)

[goforit]

<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/18/international/europe/18roger.html>

Brother Roger, 90, Dies; Ecumenical Leader

By MARLISE SIMONS
Published: August 18, 2005
Brother Roger, the Swiss Protestant theologian who in 1940 founded a community of monks in Taizé, in eastern France, that became a worldwide ecumenical movement, died there on Tuesday. He was 90.

Brother Roger was stabbed in the throat during an evening service in his church by a woman who was attending the ceremony. He died almost immediately.

With his group of monks - including Lutheran, Anglican, Evangelical, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox members - he sought to create greater unity among Christian churches, but his focus above all was to awaken spirituality among the young people in Europe who were growing up in a secular world.

Before the fall of Communism, he and his group had quietly created prayer circles among Catholics in Poland and Hungary and Protestants in East Germany that proved influential during protests in those countries. The Taizé prayer groups with their message of peace and conciliation eventually also reached into the United States - he has followers in New York - as well as Canada, Brazil, South Korea and elsewhere.

He became well known as both a mystic and a realist, a man with a humble personal style who was able to attract tens of thousands of followers. He also became a driving force behind the annual World Youth Day, being held this week in Cologne, Germany.

The Taizé center and Brother Roger drew tens of thousands of pilgrims a year. Although he was seen by many as a guru, he preferred to use the phrase, "My brothers and I want to be seen as people who listen, never as spiritual masters."

<snip>

Pope Benedict XVI, who knew Brother Roger personally, said at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo yesterday that the "sad and terrifying" news "strikes me even more because just yesterday I received a very moving and very friendly letter from him."

<snip>.........Con't

[lovuian]

1. Taize Religious Community Founder Slain

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050817/ap_on_re_eu/france_prayer_slaying_4

PARIS - A Romanian woman slipped into a choir of singing monks during an evening prayer service and fatally slit the throat of the 90-year-old founder of an ecumenical Christian community in the presence of 2,500 horrified pilgrims in Burgundy, authorities said Wednesday.

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The slaying Tuesday of Brother Roger in the Church of Reconciliation drew reactions of shock and grief from the pope, the leader of the Anglican Church and worshippers around the world.

"It happened very fast. There were some screams. We turned around. He was wounded," said Brother Emile, who witnessed the killing. "We carried him out of the church so people didn't see the terrible part. ... She slit his throat."

Brother Roger was stabbed at least twice in the neck. Bleeding profusely, he died 15 minutes later in the community house, Brother Emile said.

Tributes to the silver-haired cleric who symbolized dialogue across the Christian world poured in Wednesday to the tranquil Taize Community, snuggled in a Burgundy village north of Lyon.

Pope Benedict XVI, who had received a letter from Brother Roger on Tuesday — the day of the killing — deplored the "very sad and terrifying news." Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the Church of England, called it "an indescribable shock."
more...

Poor man what a terrible death...

[ret5hd]

2. in what way does this tie in to the da vinci code...

(a question from someone that hasn't read the book)

[goforit]

3. Well, its a long story, but, it has something to do with secret societies

that are alive and well.

the Illuminate/Masons/Templars/Opes Dei(sp)etc.

The book is a murder fiction, yet ties in the history of
murder for power and all the world's financial resourses and
the Roman Catholic Hierarchy.

It has turned the Catholic church on its head.

[Bo]

4. God Bless the Peace Makers

Good Bye Brother Roger.I will miss you greatly.

[CBHagman]

5. No, it's not like the Da Vinci Code. A man is dead.

A 90-year-old man is murdered during services, probably by an assailant who was simply mentally ill, and people are going into novel mode.

NO. A MAN IS DEAD. This is not entertainment. This is not time to speculate about conspiracies.

A month or two back, a Mexican sheriff was murdered on his very first day on the job. The town in which he served was dominated by drug gangs, apparently.

At the report of the murder, a DUer started posting about how this was like a movie. The trouble is, it isn't a movie. These are real deaths.