French officials reported that a Rwandan refugee, suspected of setting fire to the Nantes Cathedral last year, killed a Catholic priest on Monday in western France. The crime quickly sparked renewed debate between the far-right and the government concerning immigration, coming less than a year before presidential elections expected to be dominated by this issue. Father Olivier Mer, aged 60, was killed in his town of Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, where the suspect had been given a place to live.
Yannick Logutier, deputy public prosecutor in La-Roche-sur-Yon, stated that there appears to be no "terrorist motive" behind the crime, identifying the suspect as Emmanuel Abayisenga. He added that Abayisenga handed over the key to his room to the gendarmes, where the priest's body was found.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin described the crime on Twitter as "tragic." A source close to the investigation noted that "a man turned himself in at midday to the gendarmerie unit in Mortagne-sur-Sèvre and confessed to killing a clergyman," indicating that the man had previously been under judicial supervision in connection with the Nantes Cathedral fire in July 2020.
The source, who requested anonymity, mentioned that the priest had been welcoming the suspect to his church for months. It appears that the priest was killed as a result of blows, but the body is currently undergoing an autopsy. Abayisenga, who had been receiving treatment at a psychiatric hospital, discharged from it in late July after nearly a month of care, confessed to his involvement in the Nantes Cathedral fire on July 18, 2020.
The source added that late on Monday, the suspect's judicial supervision was deemed "incompatible with his health condition," and he was readmitted to the hospital.
**Sympathy and Outrage**
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who accuses the government of weakness regarding immigration, sought to exploit the incident by stating that in France "one can be an illegal immigrant, set fire to a cathedral without being deported, and then commit another crime like killing a priest." Darmanin promptly accused her of "stirring controversy without knowing the facts," clarifying that the man could not be deported from France as long as he was under judicial supervision.
Immigration is expected to be a major topic when Le Pen challenges President Emmanuel Macron in the upcoming presidential elections. France is on high alert due to the risks of attacks targeting churches following the murder of three people in a church in Nice by a person from Tunisia in late October last year. However, a source familiar with the investigation confirmed that there appears to be no link between this crime and "terrorism."
Macron expressed "great sympathy" for the victim's church, and Prime Minister Jean Castex conveyed his "deep sympathy" and "outrage." The Nantes fire occurred 15 months after the Notre-Dame Cathedral fire in Paris in 2019, raising concerns about the security threats facing other historic churches across France. The construction of the Nantes Cathedral in Gothic style took several centuries, from 1434 to 1891.
