#BreakingNews Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Nikolaus Schwerdtfeger, Age 75, Attacked at Home and is in Intensive Care in Germany

Germany's Hildesheim Auxiliary Bishop Schwerdtfeger (75), attacked in his own home, is in the intensive care unit.

The Diocese of Hildesheim provides information about this in a press release:

Hildesheim Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Dr. Nikolaus Schwerdtfeger was attacked and seriously injured by an unknown person in a physical attack on Saturday evening in his home in Laatzen. He suffered a wound to his face, two broken ribs and a small injury to his lung, which required intensive care. He is now on the mend.

“The people in the Diocese of Hildesheim are very close to Auxiliary Bishop Schwerdtfeger in this situation. We wish him a speedy recovery and pray for him,” said Bishop Heiner Wilmer after visiting the sick together with Auxiliary Bishop Heinz-Günter Bongartz.

The NDR reported: “According to the police, there was an argument in front of or in the priest's apartment on Saturday evening. A previously unknown man is said to have rang the 75-year-old's doorbell. After Schwerdtfeger opened the door, he was insulted and shortly afterwards punched and pushed so that he fell, the police said. The background to the violent act is still unknown. The parish of St. Oliver writes that the perpetrator was “a peddler.”

The 75-year-old only retired at the beginning of October.