Roman Catholic bishop murdered in Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey - A Roman Catholic bishop has been stabbed to death in southern Turkey, a government official said.

Luigi Padovese, the pope's apostolic vicar in Anatolia, was attacked in his home in the Mediterranean port of Iskenderun.

Gov. Mehmet Celalettin Lekesiz said police had detained a man suspected of carrying out the killing.

He said the suspect was the bishop's driver who had worked for him for the past four-and-a-half years. The arrested man was identified by police only as Murat A.

NTV television said the priest had died in a hospital.

There was no immediate word from the Vatican.

The killing is the latest in a string of attacks in recent years on Christians in Turkey, where Christians make up less than 1 percent of the 70 million population.

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