"Two priests of the Society of Jesus have been murdered in Moscow". The news has been released today by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Russia on their website (http://ruscatholic.ru). "We are extremely sorry states the release to inform that, on October 28th at about 9 pm (Moscow time), in the flat that belongs to the Society of Jesus in Petrovka street in the centre of Moscow, two Jesuit fathers, Otto Messmer and Victor Betancourt, were found killed". The release provides some biographical details about the two Jesuits. Otto Messmer it says , a Russian national, was born on 14th July 1961 at Karaganda (Kazakhstan) in a large Catholic family of German descent, joined the Society of Jesus on 1st September 1982 in Vilnius, was ordained priest on 29th May 1988, took his perpetual vows on 2nd October 2001. Since 2002 he had been Father Superior of the Russian Independent Region of the Society of Jesus. Victor Betancourt, a native of Ecuador, was born on 7th July 1966, joined the Society of Jesus on 14th September 1984, studied in Argentina, Germany and Rome; since 2001, he had been working in Russia. He was in charge of training applicants for the Society of Jesus, and since 2008 he had been a delegate of the Society of Jesus within the Institute of Philosophy, Theology and History "Saint Thomas", in Moscow. (continued)
