An investigation was opened on Saturday evening in Lyon since the shots directed against a priest in front of the church in the 7th arrondissement.

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Laurent Cipriani / AP / SIPA

  • A Greek Orthodox priest was seriously wounded by bullets on Saturday in Lyon, in front of a church in the 7th arrondissement.

  • While the perpetrator of the two shots is still at large, the victim was operated on Monday.

  • The regional manager of the Greek Orthodox metropolis of France Georges Vassilakis considers his state of health still "very critical".

The Orthodox priest shot and wounded on Saturday in Lyon when he closed the door of a church in the 7th arrondissement, has since been kept in an artificial coma.

The victim of two shots fired by a man still on the run, he was operated on Monday.

"The operation has just ended and it went well," indicates the regional manager of the Greek Orthodox metropolis of France Georges Vassilakis.

He's still in a coma, but doctors will try to wake him up on Tuesday.

They are more optimistic.

"

Saying himself “shocked and saddened”, the latter remains extremely cautious about the cure of the priest: “His state of health remains very critical.

He received gunshots in the abdomen and chest.

His intestines are almost destroyed and some vital organs are affected.

We are still in doubt.

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Nikolaos Kakavelakis had submitted his resignation a month ago

According to the priest of the Saint-Georges parish in Grenoble, the victim Nikolaos Kakavelakis (52 years old) had submitted his resignation a month ago for “family reasons” to this court of the Orthodox Church, which had been looking for a replacement for him. , to start looking for “another mission abroad”.

Arrived in Lyon at the end of 2009, the priest of the 7th arrondissement knew conflicting relations with "three or four members of the community", according to Georges Vassilakis, and in particular a man who "lodged a complaint against him on several occasions" .

Priest wounded by gunshot in Lyon: A "horror which exceeds human logic", denounces the Church of Greece https://t.co/lWEiIXdxWe via @ 20minutesLyon pic.twitter.com/TX3zWNqk9L

- 20 Minutes Lyon (@ 20minuteslyon) November 1, 2020

“It was both personal and about the management of the parish.

He accused her of having changed the status of the community.

He was his only known enemy in our community, but this person was able to influence other members.

The situation was not very pleasant within the parish ”, describes the Orthodox leader.

"It cannot be a terrorist act"

Occurring two days after the attack on the basilica in Nice, this attack on a place of worship caused a stir.

The terrorist trail is however no more privileged than that of a common law dispute.

The Grenoble priest believes that “it cannot be a terrorist act”.

He evokes "something personal", including by "another person, independent of the community, unstable for example, who would have chosen him at random".

A man "who could correspond to the description given by the first witnesses" was arrested in another district of Lyon shortly after the facts.

But his custody was lifted early Sunday afternoon, nothing to link him to the facts.

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Priest wounded by gunshot in Lyon: A "horror which exceeds human logic", denounces the Church of Greece

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