Another version with slightly different details:

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The papal nuncio in Burundi, Monsignor Michael Courtney, has been shot and killed, the Vatican has announced.

A Vatican official, speaking on condition of anonymity Monday, confirmed the death but would offer no further details until the nuncio's family had been informed.

The Irish-born prelate was 58.

The Misna missionary news agency said in a statement that Courtney had died from a major hemorrhage while undergoing surgery at a hospital.

Further details were not immediately available.

Monsignor Michael Aidan Courtney

On Sunday, November 12, 2000 in the Church of St. Mary of the Rosary, Nenagh, Rt. Rev. Mgr Michael Aidan Courtney was ordained Archbishop of Eanach Dúin and appointed as Apostolic Nuncio to Burundi. The ceremony was celebrated by His Eminence, Cardinal Francis Arinze, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, assisted by Most Reverend John Kirby, Bishop of Clonfert and Most Reverend William Walsh, Bishop of Killaloe.

Monsignor Michael Aidan Courtney was born in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary (in the diocese of Killaloe), in 1945, the youngest child of a family of seven of the late Dr. Louis and Elizabeth Courtney. He was educated in Nenagh Primary School, the Christian Brothers and Clongowes Wood College (1956-62). After studying economics and law at UCD for one year, he then transferred to Rome where he studied for the priesthood and was ordained in 1968 for the diocese of Clonfert.
After ordination, Michael served as curate in Tynagh parish, Co. Galway for five years (1969-73) while also acting as chaplain to Tynagh mines and teaching in St. Raphael's College, Loughrea. He served as curate in Woodford parish for two and a half years (1973-75). During all these seven years, he was also Diocesan Advisor on religious education, responsible for introducing into the diocese of Clonfert new insights into catechetics.
Returning to Rome in 1976 for post-graduate studies, after taking out a Licentiate in Canon Law and a Doctorate in Moral Theology, he entered the Pontifical Diplomatic Academy where he studied political science, international and diplomatic law, among other disciplines. In 1980, he was sent to the Pontifical Representation of the Holy See in South Africa and subsequently to Zimbabwe, Senegal, India, Yugoslavia - the only Diplomatic Mission of the Holy See in Eastern Europe before the fall of the Berlin wall - Cuba and Egypt. In 1987 he was awarded an M.A. in legal philosophy by N.U.I. Galway.
For the past five years, Michael has been the Special Envoy of the Holy See to the council of Europe and allied Institutions in Strasbourg. He has directed the Permanent Mission of the Holy See to this oldest of European Institutions (founded in 1949) where the Holy See participates in some sixty European committees of experts. He has also followed the plenary sessions of the European Parliament (the “15” of the European Union) and those of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (the “41” which comprises also the Russian Federation and the Ukraine). Strasbourg is also the seat of the European Court of Human Rights whose judgements and jurisprudence the Mission of the Holy See follows with careful attention. During this time, Monsignor Courtney has also been Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the International Commission of the Civil State and a member of the Governing Board of the Council of Europe Development Bank in Paris.

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May he rest in peace.

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† Requiescant In Pace †

"On Sunday, November 12, 2000 in the Church of St. Mary of the Rosary, Nenagh, Rt. Rev. Mgr Michael Aidan Courtney was ordained Archbishop of Eanach Dúin and appointed as Apostolic Nuncio to Burundi. The ceremony was celebrated by His Eminence, Cardinal Francis Arinze, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, assisted by Most Reverend John Kirby, Bishop of Clonfert and Most Reverend William Walsh, Bishop of Killaloe.

After ordination, Michael served as curate in Tynagh parish, Co. Galway for five years (1969-73) while also acting as chaplain to Tynagh mines and teaching in St. Raphael's College, Loughrea. He served as curate in Woodford parish for two and a half years (1973-75). During all these seven years, he was also Diocesan Advisor on religious education, responsible for introducing into the diocese of Clonfert new insights into catechetics. Returning to Rome in 1976 for post-graduate studies, after taking out a Licentiate in Canon Law and a Doctorate in Moral Theology, he entered the Pontifical Diplomatic Academy where he studied political science, international and diplomatic law, among other disciplines. In 1980, he was sent to the Pontifical Representation of the Holy See in South Africa and subsequently to Zimbabwe, Senegal, India, Yugoslavia - the only Diplomatic Mission of the Holy See in Eastern Europe before the fall of the Berlin wall - Cuba and Egypt. In 1987 he was awarded an M.A. in legal philosophy by N.U.I. Galway.

For the past five years, Michael has been the Special Envoy of the Holy See to the council of Europe and allied Institutions in Strasbourg. He has directed the Permanent Mission of the Holy See to this oldest of European Institutions (founded in 1949) where the Holy See participates in some sixty European committees of experts. He has also followed the plenary sessions of the European Parliament (the “15” of the European Union) and those of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (the “41” which comprises also the Russian Federation and the Ukraine). Strasbourg is also the seat of the European Court of Human Rights whose judgements and jurisprudence the Mission of the Holy See follows with careful attention. During this time, Monsignor Courtney has also been Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the International Commission of the Civil State and a member of the Governing Board of the Council of Europe Development Bank in Paris.

We wish him every blessing and happiness in his challenging mission in Burundi."

Diocese of Clonfert, Ireland

Papal Envoy to Burundi Shot Dead, Rebels Blamed

Dec. 29 — BUJUMBURA (Reuters) - The Vatican's ambassador to Burundi was shot dead on Monday in an attack which Burundi's army blamed on Hutu rebel fighters who have refused to join a peace process.

Army officials in the tiny African country said papal nuncio Michael Courtney was ambushed by National Liberation Forces (FNL) rebels and shot three times. He later died in hospital. "The nuncio was ambushed this afternoon by elements of the FNL near the Minago locality 25 miles south of Bujumbura," army spokesman Augustin Nzabampema said.

It is estimated 300,000 people have been killed in Burundi's decade-old civil war, in which rebels of the majority Hutu ethnic group are fighting to end the political dominance of the Tutsi minority.

The main rebel group in Burundi, the FDD (Forces for the Defense of Democracy), has signed a peace deal with the government, which has awarded top ministerial posts to rebel leaders.

But the FNL has refused to negotiate with the government and has continued to fight it. African leaders have given the FNL three months to join peace talks or be branded as outcasts.

Latest news breaking on the AP Wire

VATICAN CITY (AP) _ The pope's ambassador in Burundi was shot and killed by gunmen who opened fire at his car in the Central African nation, the Vatican and a missionary news agency said Monday.

Monsignor Michael Courtney was shot in the head, shoulder and a limb, according to the Misna missionary news agency. He died from a major hemorrhage during surgery. A Vatican official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the death of the papal nuncio but would offer no details until his relatives had been informed. The Irish-born prelate was 58.

The Misna news agency said in a statement that Courtney was shot in Minago, about (50 kilometers) 30 miles south of Burundi's capital of Bujumbura. It described the circumstances of the attack as ``still not completely clear.'' The agency said Courtney had been traveling by car with three other passengers when gunfire from a nearby hill sprayed the vehicle. A priest in the car was lightly injured, while the driver and a hitchhiker were unharmed.

Bullets also struck the wheels of the car, slowing its arrival to the capital and medical help there, Misna said. Further details were not immediately available.

Major violence has torn Burundi for a decade. Conflict broke out there in 1993, when rebels from the Hutu majority took up arms after Tutsi paratroopers assassinated the country's first democratically elected leader, a Hutu. Peace deals have taken hold in Burundi, with three rebel groups, including the largest agreeing to join the transitional government and integrate their forces into a new national army. However, one main rebel group, the National Liberation Forces, is still fighting. The group carried out attacks around the capital over the weekend, although there is no indication yet that it was involved in the attack on the Vatican envoy. Banditry is also common on many roads in Burundi.

Courtney was born in 1945 in Nenagh, 140 kilometers (85 miles) southwest of Dublin. As a young man, he briefly studied economics and law at University College Dublin, then moved on to Rome where he prepared for the priesthood and a varied diplomatic career for the Holy See. The 2000 announcement of Courtney's appointment as Burundi nuncio described him as ``one of the church's most experienced diplomats,'' recounting over 30 years of work in the church.

He was ordained in 1968, and worked as a parish priest around Ireland until 1976, it said. He then moved back to Rome for postgraduate studies, and entered the Pontifical Diplomatic Academy.

Beginning in 1980, he was a papal representative in South Africa, then in Zimbabwe, Senegal, India, Yugoslavia, Cuba and Egypt, the 2000 announcement said. Prior to going to Burundi, he worked for five years as special envoy in Strasbourg, France, monitoring the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.

Archbishop Michael Aidan Courtney

Apostolic Nuncio to Burundi

Titular See: Eanach Duin

Events

Date	Age	Event	Title
5 Feb 1945		Born	Nenagh, Ireland
9 Mar 1968	23.1	Ordained Priest	Priest
18 Aug 2000	55.5	Appointed	Apostolic Nuncio to Burundi
12 Nov 2000	55.8	Ordained Bishop	Apostolic Nuncio to Burundi

Please contact the Archbishop through the Nunciature to Burundi.

a priest for years
a bishop for years

Principal Consecrator:
- Francis Cardinal Arinze
Principal Co-Consecrators:
- Bishop John Kirby
- Bishop William Walsh

Episcopal Lineage / Apostolic Succession:

Archbishop Michael Aidan Courtney (2000)
Francis Cardinal Arinze (1965)
Archbishop Carlo Heerey, C.S.Sp. †

Additional information from the AP

BUJUMBURA, Burundi AP) _ Gunmen killed the pope's ambassador in Burundi on Monday, firing on his car as he was returning from a funeral, and the country's president said the envoy was deliberately targeted.

Archbishop Michael Courtney was shot in the head, shoulder and a limb and died during surgery at Prince Louis Rwagasore Hospital, a hospital official said.

President Domitien Ndayizeye said the 58-year-old Courtney was deliberately targeted. ``It was not an accident; he was killed,'' Ndayizeye told reporters. He and other officials, however, did not say what the motive for the killing might be.

``The assailants had planned to kill him,'' Annicet Niyongabo, governor of Bururi province, said. ``They first fired into the tires and then approached to execute him. They could not mistake the car for another one because it was flying the Vatican flag.'' The gunmen had killed a soldier at the site just before the car arrived.

30-December-2003 -- Vatican Information Service

TELEGRAM FOR ASSASSINATION OF ARCHBISHOP COURTNEY VATICAN CITY, DEC 30, 2003 (VIS)

- Following is the Holy Father's telegram sent to Archbishop Simon Ntamwana of Gitega, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Burundi, upon the assassination of Archbishop Michael A. Courtney, apostolic nuncio in the same country, yesterday afternoon:

"Deeply saddened by the tragic news of the violent death of Archbishop Michael A. Courtney, apostolic nuncio in Burundi, I would like to express my spiritual closeness and my compassion to the Episcopal Conference and the Catholic Church in Burundi. I ask the Lord of life to accept him into His kingdom of light and peace, he who manifested the daily concern of the Successor of Peter for more than three years to all the citizens of Burundi and I invite everyone to commit themselves to follow Christ, rejecting violence, which is a path without a future, and to build up lasting peace, based on justice, respect for others and security for all. As a sign of comfort, I impart the apostolic blessing on you and all the people affected by this drama so that God may watch over you in peace and hope."

VATICAN MOURNS MURDERED NUNCIO IN BURUNDI

Bujumbura, Dec. 30 (CWNews.com) - Reacting to the assassination of the apostolic nuncio in Burundi on December 29, Pope John Paul II pleaded with the people of that African country to reject violence and "build a lasting peace."

News of the slaying of Archbishop Michael Aidan Courtney, a veteran of the Vatican diplomatic corps, was confirmed in the evening in Rome, with an official statement issued by the Secretariat of State.

The archbishop was killed in Minago, a town south of the capital city of Bujumbura, when the car in which he was traveling was hit with a volley of gunfire from a nearby hill. Severely wounded, Archbishop Courtney was taken to a hospital in Bujumbura, where he died without regaining consciousness.

The archbishop suffered three separate gunshot wounds, including one to the head, the Vatican revealed. He died of "an uncontrollable hemorrhage," after the drive to the hospital was lengthened by the fact that the car's tires had been flattened by the gunfire.

In a telegram addressed to Archbishop Simon Ntamwana of Gitenga, the president of the bishops' conference of Burundi, Pope John Paul said that he was "deeply saddened" to learn of the nuncio's death. He urged "everyone to commit themselves to follow Christ, rejecting violence, which is a path without a future."

Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, the prefect of the Congregation for Evangelization, also sent a message to the Catholics of Burundi, expressing their prayer that the death of Archbishop Courtney "May contribute toward the long-desired authentic peace." The Congregation noted that the archbishop's "life witness is added to that of the countless missionaries who gave their lives to proclaim the Gospel."

Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, the Vatican's Secretary for Relations with States and a personal friend of the deceased prelate, described Archbishop Courtney as "a man with a gentle character," and said that he had he had "carried out his mission as an apostolic nuncio in a difficult situation, but with a real missionary spirit."

Cardinal Ersilio Tonnini, interviewed by the Italian daily Avvenire, confirmed that the mission of a papal nuncio Burundi is both difficult and dangerous. He pointed out that the previous nuncio, the Swiss-born Archbishop Emile Tscherrig, twice escaped assassination attempts. Archbishop Courtney, a native of Ireland, had been serving as nuncio in Burundi since August 2000. He had previous held diplomatic posts in South Africa, Senegal, India, Yugoslavia, and Egypt, and served for almost five years on the Vatican delegation to the Council of Europe. He was reportedly expecting a transfer to a new assignment as apostolic nuncio in Cuba, at the time of his death.

The funeral for Archbishop Courtney will be held on December 31 in Bujumbura. Archbishop Pierre Christophe, the apostolic nuncio in Uganda, will preside, as a special envoy for the Pope. The remains of the slain archbishop will then be brought home to Ireland for burial.