Last Published Letter of a Murdered Priest

[contemplative]

I greet you, commending these reflections to you and exhorting you to always put faith in contact with the present moment. It must not be an abstract and generic faith, but a faith like that of the first “beginnings,” which has been transmitted to us from generation to generation. As the Gospel says, leaven has a mysterious capacity to ferment the dough, if it comes into contact with it – the dough of all times, all places, all generations.

Moreover, Jesus said: “I am the light of the world, he who follows me will not walk in darkness.” If his light illuminates us, not only will it illuminate every situation, even the most tragic, but in addition we too, as He always said, will be light. The tenuous light of a candle illuminates a house, an extinguished lamp leaves everything in darkness. May he shine in us with his Word, with his Spirit, with the sap of his saints. May our life be the wax that is consumed willingly.

Affectionately,

Father Andrea

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[contemplative]

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Priest’s killing shocks Christians in Turkey

Feb. 06 (CWNews.com) - A Catholic priest was shot and killed in Trabzon, Turkey, on Sunday, and authorities there are investigating whether the murder was related to Islamic anger over cartoons published in European newspapers. Father Andrea Santoro, an Italian missionary priest who had served in Turkey for 10 years, was shot twice at point-blank range in his church in the port town on the Black Sea. The gunman shouted, “Allah is great!” before running out of the church.

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In remarks to the Italian daily La Repubblica, Cardinal José Saraiva Martins said that Father Santoro stands in the long line of martyrs who have died for the faith. While the reasons for the killing are not yet clear, the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints said that with the killing, “the Church is once again colored in red, the color of the blood of martyrs.” “This has always happened, and unfortunately this will happen again,” said the Spanish cardinal. “Despite these tragedies, missionaries continue to proclaim the word of Christ, with the sentiments of peace, love and pardon-- pardon which ought to be given to the assassin of Father Andrea.”

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May Fr. Andrea Santora be a Saint.