A woman in her 50s was allegedly stabbed during morning Mass on Tuesday at Holy Cross Church in Tramore, County Waterford, Ireland.
By Catholics for Catholics
A ‘gentle’ Irish woman is in intensive care after a man stabbed her as she prayed the rosary in her local church in Tramore in Co Waterford, in Ireland.
Described by locals as a ‘kind’ and dedicated parishioner, Mary McNamara was attacked as she said the Rosary ahead of the 10am Mass at Holy Cross Church in the seaside Co Waterford town, according to a story by the Christian Post.
McNamara, who is in her 50s and well known in Tramore, was kneeling and praying at the top of the church when the attacker approached up the aisle, came to a halt in front of her, and “lunged” at her, a witness said.
In horror, McNamara fled for her life, but the knife-wielding attacker chased her and stabbed her in the torso. Aghast, onlookers tried to intervene as the man escaped the building.
Ann O’Connor, who was in the church when McNamara was stabbed, told the Irish Mirror newspaper that the episode devastated her.
“The lady that was stabbed was kneeling behind me, so I didn’t see a lot, but it was very traumatic. He was there and he came down the church and stopped. He just lunged with a knife, and she ran, and he followed her,” O’Connor said.
Another local woman who tends to the church’s graveyard said news of the stabbing spread rapidly on social media almost immediately after it took place.
“Within three minutes of it happening, it was on social media,” the woman told the Irish Independent. “It’s very unusual, we’re not expecting something like this.”
According to the Irish Mirror, the suspect, who is in his 30s, is known to police, and a major line of inquiry concerns mental health.
The man had been known to attend the church and frequently posted a number of Christian related religious content on his social media page recently.
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