Priest killed and four wounded after stabbing rampage at Polish abbey

A priest has died and four others were injured after a stabbing at a Benedictine abbey in southeastern Poland.

Two of the victims are in a "critical, life-threatening condition", a prosecutor said, following the incident in the town of Jaroslaw at around 9.30am local time on Thursday.

In total, four men and a woman were stabbed.

Police arrested a 31-year-old Ukrainian at the scene, said ​Bozena Harasz-Woloszyn, from the District Prosecutor's Office in Przemysl. He had entered Poland from Germany earlier on Thursday.

The incident took place at a Benedictine Sisters' monastery, in the grounds of ​the abbey in the town, local media reported.

The man used a knife he took from a kitchen at the monastery to attack the victims, including one priest who was in a confessional, Ms Harasz-Woloszyn said.

"Three of the victims are clergy members and ‌two ⁠are laypeople; one person has died," the prosecutor said.

She confirmed that two of those attacked were in a "critical, life-threatening condition".

"When I arrived, there was total ​panic; young people who had ​come ⁠out of the centre witnessed it - they were saying, 'Some madman, some madman!'" Sister ​Barbara Dendor ​told ⁠state broadcaster TVP Info. ⁠

Another eyewitness said that "a man aged around 30 struck the priest in the neck artery".

"The priest fell to the ground," the unnamed Polish woman, told local TV station TVN.

Any motive behind the attack remains unclear.

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Marcin Kierwinski, Poland's interior minister, called the incident "tragic" and said in a post on X that the suspect will "answer for this act with the full severity of Polish law".

"Psychological support is being provided on-site to those who witnessed this murder," he added.

Poland's President Karol Nawrocki wished the injured a swift recovery and said that "the principles and values of our community must be respected by all those residing in our country".

The mayor of Jaroslaw, Marcin ⁠Nazarewicz, told ​a press conference that a period ​of mourning was being declared until the end of the week.

Poland, a close ally of neighbouring Ukraine, has taken in hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing Russia's invasion, with some social tensions erupting in recent months.

Commenting on the stabbing, Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it a "horrific crime", adding: "We are shaken by this ⁠evil."

"We extend our deepest ​condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased," he wrote in a post on X.

(c) Sky News 2026: Priest killed and four wounded after stabbing rampage at Polish abbey