Catholic priest killed by suspected cathedral arsonist in France

A priest was killed Monday in a small town in western France and the suspect is a man he had housed for months, a local religious leader said. The suspect is the same man who caused a major fire that ravaged the cathedral in the French city of Nantes last year, local media reported.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin confirmed the killing, adding that he was heading to the Vendee region after the "dramatic assassination." La Roche-sur-Yon prosecutor Yannick Le Goater told reporters police had found the body of 60-year-old Olivier Maire, head of the Montfortain Missionary Order at Saint-Laurent-sur-Sevre, Reuters reported.