"Father Arul very closely followed the life of Jesus. Like Jesus as a good shepherd, Father Arul too tried to be a good shepherd for the people of this locality," said Balasore Bishop Varghese Thottamkara in his sermon at the jubilee Mass.

Along with the bishop, over 50 priests and hundreds of nuns from different parts of the sprawling diocese and beyond were present at the celebration at which the clergyman was hailed as a martyr.

"Father Arul was a priest of Christ. He came to serve the faithful of Balasore, especially of the Ho tribe people," Thottamkara said.

"Through his life-giving witness he gives the best example for us. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church," the prelate added.

"While only 18 Ho families had embraced Christian faith in Jamboni at the death of Father Arul in 1999, the number has swelled to over 400 in Jamboni mission area now," Father Varghese Puthumattam, who has compiled the biography of the missionary, told CNA.

Read More

They called on President Rodrigo Duterte "to stop the verbal persecution of the Catholic Church because such attacks can wittingly embolden more crimes against priests."

The church leaders have declared June 18, the ninth day after the murder of Fr. Richmond Nilo, a Day of Reparation.

During the Day of Reparation, all the masses in the archdiocese will be offered as reparation for "the murders that continue without relent."

All parish church bells will be rung for fifteen minutes at 6pm "to commemorate the time when Father Richmond Nilo was killed", after which the Day of Reparation would be closed with a procession.

Father Richmond Nilo was shot dead on Sunday, June 10, as he was preparing to celebrate Mass.

He was the 3rd Catholic priest killed since December 2017.

In their statement, the church leaders made a passionate appeal to stop the officially sanctioned killing spree that has engulfed the Philippines.

"They are killing our flock. They are killing us the shepherds. They are killing our faith. They are cursing our Church. They are killing God again as they did in Calvary.

"Killing is the solution. Killing is the language. Killing is the way. Killing is the answer. Killing is encouraged. Killing is their job. Killers are rewarded. Killers boast of their murders.

"They kill in the streets. They kill inside homes. They kill in tricycles and jeeps. They kill in plazas. They kill in the malls. They kill in the chapels. The nation is a killing field. They kill everywhere. They are happy to kill. But we are not a nation of killers."

Source

• rappler.com
• gmanetwork.com
• Image: news.abs-cbn.com

Calls have come from several quarters for priests to take advantage of a 2014 law allowing journalists, priests, lawyers, doctors, nurses, accountants and engineers to carry firearms outside their homes.

The calls come after three recent shooting incidents involving priests.

"Arming priests is not a solution to crimes against them," said Father Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the Public Affairs Committee of the bishops' conference.

He said there is no need for priests to arm themselves because, like any ordinary citizen, they are also entitled to protection from the government.

"If [priests] antagonise other people, killing them is unnecessarily excessive and brutal," said Father Secillano, adding that priests should never be considered as "enemies".

The country's Justice Secretary, meanwhile, said he intends to include in next year's proposed budget for his department funding for the purchase of firearms for prosecutors.

Menardo Guevarra said the move is in response to the killing of prosecutors in recent months, especially in the provinces.

He made the announcement following the killing of a prosecutor during a robbery incident in Quezon City on June 4.

At least seven prosecutors have been killed in the past two years, according to police.

Prior to the 2014 law, people like priests and prosecutors, like any other citizen, were required to prove they were "under actual threat" before being issued a special permit to carry firearms.

Now, all that is required is that they pass a drug and psychiatric test and prove they have no pending criminal case punishable by two or more years in jail and no prior convictions.

Source

• ucanews.com
• philstar.com
• Image: asianews.it

He has since been released, apparently in exchange for a ransom. Read more

The Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico City said the campaign suggests the priests' behaviour was questionable.

Two of the slain priests died in Veracruz state last week.

Veracruz state prosecutors alleged they were drinking with their killers before they disappeared

Another priest was abducted and died in Michoacan state.

Local media published a photo taken from security footage that seems to show the priest at a hotel with a boy.

Other reports later said the man in the image was not the priest.

The Michoacan state prosecutors' office did not respond to a request for comment on the photo.

Father Hugo Valdemar Romero said "it has become clear that state governments that cannot handle the drug cartels are criminalizing the victims ..."

He said they show some as drunks and another as a pedophile.

It makes it "look like the crimes were not related to drug cartels but because of some immoral conduct."

"To physical death they are adding moral assassination, slandering the priests and holding them up to ridicule."

"And that has caused deep indignation in the church."

The Mexican Council of Bishops also urged authorities to investigate the killings.

The investigations must not cast aspersions on the victims, they said.

"We respectfully and urgently demand that the respective authorities get to the bottom of both cases … and with the same forcefulness, we demand that no priest, or anyone, be slandered, above all before the investigations are finished," the council wrote.

Source

• Crux
• Image:cruxnow.com