smallest state, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.
The 61-year-old priest, Eusebio Ferrao, was found murdered early Saturday, March 18, in his official residence at his St Xaviers’s church in the town of Macazana in southern Goa. He apparently died by suffocation with a pillow, investigators said.
His body was apparently discovered in the morning around 6:30 local time when worshippers came for the morning church service. Eyewitnesses said his death send shockwaves across the local community and crowds soon gathered in and around the church. Police said they believe the two arrested youths, identified as Amit Shukla and Manish Dubey, had dinner with the priest a few hours before the murder.
The accused were detained by a team of Goa police officials outside Goa in the city of Nagpur, after an earlier search in the neighboring state of Uttar Karnataka, PTI quoted senior officials and Police Superintendent Shekhar Prabhudesai as saying.
SECTARIAN VIOLENCE
Church representatives said the murder of Father Ferrao underscored an increase in sectarian violence in Goa. Several Catholic churches, chapels and crosses have been desecrated and Christians are told to “go back to where they came from,” Catholics said.
In published remarks, the Archdiocese of Goa condemned the murder of the priest saying it was "deeply pained and anguished" over "the cold blooded murder of a diocesan priest of Goa, Eusebio Ferrгo."
The Archbishop of Goa and Daman, Filipe Neri Ferrao, appealed "to the concerned authorities to take urgent and concerted measures to catch the culprits of this vile act at the earliest.”
PEACE MISSION
His Archdiocese stressed Catholics were praying "for our brother, who always spoke about peace throughout his mission, so that he may enjoy the eternal abode of our Heavenly Father."
Investigators say the motive for the killing is unclear. Some parishioners have reportedly said the priest’s work for peace in the region may have been a reason. Ferrгo was known to draw public attention to inter-religious violence in the area, and wrote for local media.
He reportedly served the diocese in different capacities in the parishes of Piedade-Divar, Ambelim-Assolna, Carambolim and Agacaim. He was also the member of the Diocesan Commission for Liturgy and served as Dean of the Goa Velha deanery. (With BosNewsLife Research and reports from India).
