Priest's murder in Christian Kerala shocks Indian church members

Published: 2004-08-30

COCHIN, India (CNS) -- The murder of a Catholic priest who worked with the poor in Kerala, a Christian state in southern India, has shocked church members. Father Job Chittilapilly, 71, died Aug. 28 from four stab wounds. His body was found on a porch at Mother of God Parish in Irinjalakuda Diocese, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India expressed shock at the priest's murder. In an Aug. 29 statement, its vice president, Archbishop Jacob Thoomkuzhy of Trichur, urged the government to take urgent action to arrest the person or people responsible. As of Aug. 30, police said they had not yet identified the assailants at Father Chittilapilly's parish, 25 miles north of Cochin. Bishop James Pazhayattil of Irinjalakuda told UCA News Aug. 30 that the slain priest worked for the poor and needy, so "his murder has put the people of our diocese in deep grief." The bishop said Father Chittilapilly was "a good Samaritan who never had any enemies."

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