Cagayan parish priest shot dead after saying Mass

The parish priest of a village in Gattaran town in Cagayan province was shot dead, moments after the priest officiated Sunday morning Mass, according to a police report.

Fr. Mark Anthony Ventura of the San Isidro Labrador Mission Station, had just concluded Mass at the village gymnasium in Barangay (village) Piña Weste at 8:15 a.m. when the gunman emerged from the back entrance and shot the priest twice.

Ventura was meeting choir members before he was scheduled to officiate in a baptism when he was gunned down.

Senior Supt. Warren Tolito, Cagayan police director, said Ventura died on the spot.

“The (scene of the crime) is a remote village, and it would take about an hour to get to the nearest hospital,” he said.

After the shooting, the suspect, who was wearing a helmet, ran towards the road, and sped off in a waiting motorcycle driven by another helmeted man. /je