Fourth Catholic priest gunned down in South Africa in nine months

Cape Town (ENI). A French priest ministering to impoverished people, the Rev. Louis Blondel of the Missionaries of Africa, shot dead in his home by child robbers, is the fourth Roman Catholic cleric killed by South African criminals since March. Blondel, aged 70 was shot dead around in the early hours of 7 December in Dieplsloot, north of Johannesburg. He and another priest, the Rev. Guido Bourgeois, also 70, who was born in Canada, were awakened by three boys who forced their way into the priest's offices through a broken window in their living quarters at the Sacred Heart Catholic church premises. [465 words, ENI-09-0962]