A priest wounded in the fatal knife attack at Jarosław’s Benedictine abbey returned to the altar just two days later, telling worshippers that the attacker was forgiven and appealing to them “not to repay evil with evil” or direct anger towards Ukrainians as a whole.
Father Adrian, one of three priests injured during Thursday morning’s attack, presided over Mass on Saturday evening as the abbey reopened to worshippers. He appeared before the congregation with visible bruising and a dressing around his head.
The abbey had confirmed a day earlier that Father Adrian had been treated for his injuries and had already returned to the complex. Another injured priest, Father Marek, remained in hospital in a serious but stable condition.
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During the homily, Father Adrian said that he was speaking not only for himself but also for Father Marek and Father Stanisław Zbojnowicz, the priest who died after the attack.
He told the congregation that they forgave the suspected attacker and asked worshippers to pray both for those affected by the violence and for the man accused of carrying it out.
Father Adrian said the violence at the abbey should be overcome through “goodness, love and forgiveness” and urged parishioners not to answer what had happened with hatred.
He also directly addressed the fact that the suspect is a Ukrainian citizen.
“Do not blame the nation from which the attacker came,” he told worshippers, stressing that responsibility lay with one individual rather than other members of that nationality.
The priest recalled the assistance provided through the abbey to Ukrainians following Russia’s full-scale invasion and appealed for that work not to be undermined by the actions of one person. He urged those present to respond with love, support, understanding and mutual respect.
The message echoed appeals issued by senior Polish Catholic clergy in the immediate aftermath of the attack.
Archbishop Adam Szal of Przemyśl called for peace, unity and solidarity and warned against people using the tragedy to incite hatred. His statement following the attack asked Catholics across the archdiocese to pray for the dead priest, the injured and the wider Jarosław community.
Poland’s primate, Archbishop Wojciech Polak, likewise appealed for the killing not to fuel hostility towards Ukrainians, while Bishop Krzysztof Zadarko said responsibility for the actions of an individual should not be transferred to an entire ethnic or national group.
The attack took place at around 9.30 a.m. on Thursday, 24 September, at the Benedictine Sisters’ abbey in Jarosław in southeastern Poland.
According to the Przemyśl District Prosecutor’s Office, a 31-year-old Ukrainian citizen attacked five people at the monastery complex. All were taken to hospital, where one of the victims later died.
The man who died was Father Stanisław Zbojnowicz, a 67-year-old priest who had been connected with the Jarosław abbey and its rectoral church for 16 years. He had served as a priest for four decades.
Two other priests and two laypeople were injured.
The abbey said Father Marek was in a serious but stable condition on Friday, while the lives of the other surviving victims were not considered to be in danger.
A 31-year-old Ukrainian man, identified under Polish privacy rules as Ihor M., was detained following the attack.
Prosecutors have formulated allegations including murder, attempted murder and causing serious bodily injury. Psychiatric experts subsequently found that his current condition involves acute psychotic symptoms severe enough to prevent him from participating in procedural acts.
That assessment concerns his current ability to participate in proceedings and does not by itself determine his mental state or criminal responsibility at the time of the attack.
On Saturday, a court ordered three months of pre-trial detention, to be carried out under hospital conditions because of his health.
The motive for the attack has not been established publicly.
Saturday’s Mass marked the resumption of regular religious services at the abbey after the killing. The church reopened at 4.30 p.m., with Mass beginning an hour later and prayers held for Father Stanisław, the surviving victims and the suspect.
Funeral ceremonies for Father Stanisław are scheduled over Monday and Tuesday. A Mass at the Jarosław abbey will be celebrated on Monday evening, before his funeral and burial in his home village of Grzęska on Tuesday.
Father Adrian’s return to the same church where the violence had taken place provided the first public testimony from one of the priests who survived the attack.
His message was explicit: the crime should be attributed to the person responsible for it, rather than used as a reason for hostility towards Ukrainians, and the response of the congregation should be forgiveness rather than retaliation.
