CBCP condemns ‘outrageously evil’ killing of Nueva Ecija priest

Branding the fatal shooting of a priest in Nueva Ecija as “outrageously evil,” the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has appealed to authorities for a swift investigation into the heinous crime.

Father Richmond Nilo was behind the altar as he was getting ready to start Mass at around 6:05 p.m. on Sunday, June 10, when two unidentified men opened fire at him.

“We are deeply saddened and terribly disturbed that another priest is brutally killed,” CBCP president and Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles said in a statement. “We strongly condemn this outrageously evil act.”

“We make our appeal once again to the police authorities to act swiftly in the investigation and to go after the perpetrators of this heinous crime and bring them to justice,” he said.

Likewise, Valles said they are praying for the eternal repose of the slain priest.

“We join in prayer Bp. Sofronio Bancud, SSS, the clergy, the religious, and the lay faithful of the Diocese of Cabanatuan as they face the brutal death of their own priest at the hand of bloody murderers in this time when the whole Philippine Church is celebrating 2018 as the Year of the Clergy and Consecrated Persons,” the prelate said.

He was the third priest to be killed in recent months. Father Tito Paez was slain by gunmen in December 2017 while Father Mark Anthony Ventura was fatally shot during mass in May 2018.    /muf