Catholic priest murdered in southwestern India

Published: 2006-03-20

PUNE, India (CNS) -- The murder of Father Eusebio Ferrao, a parish priest in India, has shocked Catholics in the southwestern Indian state of Goa. Father Ferrao, pastor of St. Francis Xavier Church in the village of Macasana, was found dead by parishioners who arrived at the church for the 6:30 a.m. Mass March 18. When the priest did not show up for Mass, a few of them went to his home, where they found him in his room lying on the ground, partially naked, his face covered with a pillow and a towel in his mouth. According to forensic reports, the 61-year-old priest's body bore 27 knife stab wounds on the back and chest, inflicted after his death from asphyxiation as a result of strangulation and smothering. Archbishop Filipe do Rosario Ferrao of Goa and Daman, who is not related to the priest, arrived at the parish that morning to lead a prayer service. He described the murder as "the first of its kind in peaceful Goa in recent times."

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