Labelling the murder of Kazimir Visaticki, the priest of St. Rocco's parish who was killed in the night between Wednesday and Thursday, as "heinous and incomprehensible", Antelj voiced hope that this murder "will not lead to the worsening of the good relations with the Catholic Church".
According to a broadcast on the entity's TV station, citizens praised the dead priest as a model of humanity and a person who had helped everybody.
The 66-year-old rev. Visaticki was found dead in his office on Thursday morning. A few hours later police established that the murderer was Bogdan Gigovic (34) and immediately arrested him.
According to a police report, Gigovic hit the priest with a blunt object, killing him after the priest caught him burgling the office. A local paper reported that the priest's 93-year-old mother was also in the building but she did not hear anything.
The local police as well as top officials of the police of the Republic of Srpska, and representatives of international peace-keepers arrived on the scene of the crime immediately when the information on the murder was spread.
Visaticki will be buried at the priests' cemetery in Banja Luka at 15:00 hrs Saturday.