Irish papal envoy shot dead in Burundi

THE Pope’s representative in Burundi, an Irishman, was shot dead in an ambush yesterday.

Papal Nuncio Archbishop Michael Courtney, aged 58, from Nenagh, Co Tipperary, was returning from a funeral when gunmen opened fire on his car at Minago, 30 miles south of the capital, Bujumbura.

He was hit in the head, the shoulder and the leg, while two other Burundian passengers in the car flying the Vatican flag were slightly injured. Staff at the capital's Prince Louis Rwagasaore hospital gave Archbishop Courtney a blood transfusion and tried to resuscitate him but he died at 2pm from his injuries.