THE PARISH priest next door to the stronghold of a cult involved in a shoot-out with federal agents last week is urging Catholics in his diocese to pray for the victims.
Fr Isidore Rozycki, whose mission church is located in the town of Elk, Texas, just two miles from the headquarters of the Branch Davidians' cult, has asked his followers to pray for the victims of the bloody shoot-out between federal agents and cult members.
Fr Rozycki described the 60year-old cult as "a fanatical group that has such a tremendous hold on people". The leader of the 75member group, David Koresh, has been describing himself as a second Jesus Christ.
More than 100 federal law enforcement agents raided the Waco compound of the cult last week to search for guns and arrest the group's leader, David Koresh, 33. Members of the cult, reportedly tipped off about the raid, and an ensuing shootout left four agents and two cult members dead.
Fr Rozycki said that Koresh's "hold" on his disciples reminded him of Jim Jones, the cult leader who led a mass suicide in Guyana in 1978.