Slain Catholic priests remembered on Father’s Day 2018

MANILA, Philippines – Detained Senator Leila de Lima on Sunday, June 17, remembered 3 slain Catholic priests in the Philippines – Fathers Marcelito Paez, Mark Ventura, and Richmond Nilo – as Filipinos marked Father’s Day.  

“Ipanalangin natin ang mga pari, na nagsisilbi ring ama sa kanilang mga parokya at Simbahan, na biktima na rin ng mga karumal-dumal na pagpatay (Let us pray for priests who served as fathers to their parishes and the Church, who have been victimized in brutal killings),” De Lima wrote in her Father’s Day message.

“Sinasalamin ng pagpaslang sa kanila ang kawalang-galang sa Diyos at sa Simbahang Katolika (Their killings mirror the lack of respect for God and the Catholic Church),” she added.

Paez, Ventura, and Nilo were shot dead just months apart, amid incidents of riding-in-tandem shootings nationwide. Their deaths sparked outrage from the Catholic Church and local religious groups.

For activist priest Paez, cops are looking at his community involvement. He reportedly secured the release of a political prisoner before he was gunned down.

Ventura’s case is still being probed, with cops looking into a “serious personal grudge,” while authorities still have no suspected motive for Nilo’s killing. – Rambo Talabong/Rappler.com