Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Warsaw (Fides News Agency) – The funeral of Father Stanisław Zbojnowicz, a Benedictine priest who was attacked on September 24, at the monastery of the Benedictine nuns in Jarosław, in south-eastern Poland, near the border with Ukraine, will take place tomorrow, September 29.
A 31-year-old Ukrainian refugee, Ihor M., entered the monastery complex, took a kitchen knife and attacked five people: four men and one woman.
Father Stanisław Zbojnowicz, who attempted to stop the assailant, suffered injuries that proved fatal. Two other men remain hospitalized in serious condition. One of them is another priest, Fr Marek Pieńkowski, head of the Council of the Foundation for Family Pastoral Ministry and deeply involved in assisting Ukrainian refugees.
Psychiatric experts have determined that the assailant has symptoms of a psychotic disorder.
On Saturday, September 26, a silent march was held near the monastery in Jarosław to commemorate the murdered priest, preceded by a Mass for the repose of his soul. “From this place, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, I want to say very clearly, in my own name, in the name of Fr Marek and in the name of Fr Stanisław: we forgive!” said Fr Adrian Mantykiewicz during his homily. A priest originally from Czeladź, sustained less serious injuries in the attack.
With his head bandaged and his face swollen, the priest also urged people not to blame the assailant’s country of origin. “I ask you not to blame the perpetrator's country of origin, because the evil was committed by a specific person, a specific person who has his own name, his own life, and is responsible for his own actions.”
Fr Stanisław Zbojnowicz had served as rector of the Church of St Nicholas the Bishop and of Jarosław Abbey since 2010. He was born on October 13, 1958 in Grzęska, near Przeworsk. He was ordained a priest in 1986. He served as parish priest in Wola Zarczycka, Rogi, Domostawa and Rzeszów, at the parish of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, as well as at the parish church in Przeworsk and at the Provincial Hospital in Krosno. In the final years of his life, he served as a confessor at the parish church of St Nicholas the Bishop and at Jarosław Abbey.
(L.M.) (Fides News Agency, 28/9/2026)
