Funeral Mass held for Roman Catholic bishop stabbed to death in Turkey

Funeral Mass held for bishop slain in Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey — Dignitaries and the faithful have mourned a murdered bishop at a funeral Mass in the Mediterranean port of Iskenderun.

Luigi Padovese, the Vatican’s apostolic vicar in Anatolia, was stabbed to death on June 3. His driver has been charged with murder and Turkish authorities have said the motive was personal and not political or religious.

The killing was in latest in a string of attacks in recent years on Christians in predominantly Muslim Turkey, where Christians make up less than 1 percent of the 70 million population.

The mass was held in Iskenderun’s Church of the Annunciation, the seat of Padovese’s apostolic vicariate on Monday.

Padovese’s body will be flown to Milan, Italy, where he is to be buried.