PARIS -- Church leaders and politicians joined an outpouring of sorrow yesterday for the slaying of Brother Roger, the renowned founder of a French ecumenical community, who died after a woman stabbed him in the neck during evening prayers.

The frail 90-year-old monk died of his wounds shortly after the attack Tuesday night at the headquarters of the community in Taize, in the south Burgundy region. His assailant was a 36-year-old Romanian who had tried to join the community earlier this month, authorities said yesterday.

"He was a man of peace," French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said. "He had managed to establish a spiritual dialogue between the [Roman] Catholic Church and other churches. We won't forget his message."

The news reached Pope Benedict XVI at his retreat at Castel Gandolfo on the eve of his departure for World Youth Day ceremonies in Cologne, Germany. Expressing sorrow and horror, the pope said that only a day earlier he had received a "very moving and very friendly letter" from Roger, saying that while his health would not permit him to attend the event, "with all his heart he would be with the pope and all others who were in Cologne."

Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams declared: "Brother Roger was one of the best-loved Christian leaders of our time."

Roger never visited Pittsburgh, but the East Liberty Presbyterian Church has a Taize worship on Wednesday nights, and Roger's presence and ministry have been deeply felt by its leader, the Rev. Christiane Dutton.

More than a decade ago, when Dutton was at a World Council of Churches meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, she came shoulder to shoulder with Roger. At the end of a service, he was proceeding down the aisle and stopped adjacent to her pew.

"He was such an island of charisma," said Dutton, who recalled that her husband remarked then that "you could just feel God's presence when he walked by."

Brother Roger, whose surname was Schutz, became an icon of reconciliation in the lives of individuals and among churches.

When he founded the Taize ecumenical community in 1940, he was 25, and the world was in the throes of war. He and his brothers committed their lives to practicing celibacy, sharing their worldly goods and taking spiritual walks, emphasizing simplicity.

The community grew to international prominence for its work of reconciliation, particularly in reaching out to youths and young adults. The late Pope John Paul II, who himself placed great importance on working with other churches and faiths, visited the Taize community in October 1986.

Roger "was hugely important in the Protestant-Catholic church [reconciliation] in Europe after the Second World War," said the Rev. Wilma Jakobsen of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, Calif. "I think we have no idea just how far his influence extended."

Over the years, the community has been visited by three archbishops of Canterbury, Eastern Orthodox metropolitan bishops, 14 Lutheran bishops of Sweden and countless pastors from around the world.

Tuesday night, before the slaying, about 2,500 people were in the Taize church for evening prayers accompanied by a choir of monks. Alain Duphil, a worshipper from southern France, said he saw a woman rise and walk toward Roger.

"Many people thought she was a mother going to be next to her child, because there were many children around Brother Roger," Duphil told Le Parisien newspaper. "The woman went behind Brother Roger, and some people thought she was strangling him. Someone screamed. A monk and some young guy grabbed her."

Police identified the suspect only by her first name, Luminita. She told interrogators that she had not intended to kill the cleric, but only get his attention, according to Jean-Louis Coste, a prosecutor. She had purchased the knife used in the assault Monday, Coste told a news conference.

Roger suffered stab wounds in the neck and died shortly afterward as emergency personnel tried to revive him.

A native of Switzerland and son of a Swiss Protestant pastor, Roger suffered for years from tuberculosis, according to the community's Web site.

After the start of World War II, the small village of Taize was close to the demarcation line that divided the portions of France controlled by German forces and by the French Vichy government. It was, the community said, strategically located for welcoming refugees, including Jews hiding from the Nazis.

Warned that German forces were aware of their activities, Roger and his sister, Genevieve, left in autumn 1942 but returned in 1944. In the interval, a few other religious brothers had joined the order in Taize. Today, more than 100 brothers -- Catholics and Protestants -- from more than 25 nations are community members.

Roger was the author of numerous books and meditations, including "God is Love Alone," "Peace of Heart in All Things" and "The Wonder of a Love." With the late Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Roger co-wrote "Meditations on the Way of the Cross" in 1986.

The community said Roger's funeral would be on Tuesday.

Roger is succeeded by Brother Alois, a 51-year-old German Catholic, whom Roger chose as his successor eight years ago.

East Liberty Presbyterian Church will hold a memorial service for Roger on Wednesday from 7 to 9 p.m. Dutton said guests will share recollections, read Scripture and recite one of Roger's prayers.