Killing of Olivier Maire

Olivier Maire S.M.M. (19 November 1960 – 9 August 2021) was a French Roman Catholic priest.[1] Assassinated in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, he was a member of the Montfortaine Family.

Olivier Maire
Provincial Superior of the Company of Mary in France
ChurchSaint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre
DioceseLuçon
Orders
Ordination17 June 1990
Personal details
Born19 November 1960
Besançon, France
Died9 August 2021(2021-08-09) (aged 60)
Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, France
NationalityFrench
OccupationRoman Catholic priest

Biography

Born into a very pious family, Maire became religious from a young age. He entered the Collège de Pelousey and the Lycée Saint-Jean de Besançon, where he earned his baccalauréat. After his studies in biology, he spent his military service in Haiti. He then earned a degree in theology in Rome, being ordained a priest and joining the Company of Mary. He then trained seminarians in Uganda for many years.[2]

A biblical critic, Maire was passionate about the Church Fathers and the Patristics, he also earned a degree in psychology. Upon his return to France, he was elected provincial superior of the Montfortaines and was installed in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre.[3]

Olivier Maire was murdered on 9 August 2021, allegedly by Emmanuel Abayisenga, a Rwandan national who was suspected of having started the 2020 Nantes Cathedral fire and whom he had taken in.[4] His funeral took place on 13 August 2021, in the Basilica of Saint Louis de Montfort in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, celebrated by Monsignor Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the Bishops' Conference of France, Monsignor François Jacolin, Bishop of Luçon, and Reverend Luis Augusto Stefani, Superior General of the Company of Mary.[5] Minister of Justice Éric Dupond-Moretti and Senator Bruno Retailleau also attended the ceremony.[6]

References
  1. de Frémont, Charlotte (11 August 2021). "Père Olivier Maire: dans tout le pays, prêtres et fidèles préparent les hommages". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  2. "Qui est le Père Olivier Maire, le prêtre tué en Vendée ?". Paris Match (in French). 9 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  3. Fournier, Marie-Coralie; Dorcet, Marie (9 August 2021). "Olivier Maire, le prêtre tué en Vendée, est originaire de Besançon". France Bleu (in French). Besançon. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  4. Laurent, Samuel; Dorison, Anne-Hélène (9 August 2021). "De l'incendie de la cathédrale de Nantes au meurtre d'un prêtre en Vendée, la dérive progressive d'Emmanuel Abayisenga". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  5. Boucault, Sarah (11 August 2021). "Prêtre tué en Vendée : le père Olivier Maire enterré ce vendredi". Le Figaro (in French). Nantes. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  6. Gruel, Mathieu (13 August 2021). "Obsèques du prêtre tué en Vendée. « Olivier va terriblement nous manquer mais nous ne jugerons pas »". Ouest-France (in French). Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
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