Father Adrian Mantykiewicz returns to altar with message of forgiveness

Father Adrian Mantykiewicz returned to celebrate Mass at the Benedictine sisters’ abbey in Jaroslaw on Sept. 26, two days after a knife attack left several people wounded and killed one priest. During the service, Father Mantykiewicz, who bore visible facial injuries from the attack, stated that he, Father Marek Pienkowski, and the late Father Stanislaw Zbojniewicz forgive the attacker.

The Sept. 24 attack involved five people being stabbed by a 31-year-old Ukrainian citizen. Father Zbojniewicz died from his injuries, while Father Pienkowski remained hospitalized in serious but stable condition. Father Mantykiewicz was treated and released from the hospital the same day as the attack.

In his homily, Father Mantykiewicz asked the community to pray for the attacker to receive the grace of conversion, noting that the perpetrator needs prayer most of all. He urged the congregation to overcome evil with goodness and love rather than responding with more evil. He also cautioned against directing hostility toward the Ukrainian community in Poland, noting that the abbey had previously provided support to many Ukrainians following the outbreak of war in Ukraine.