In a statement to the pontifical news agency Fides, the two witnesses — who are teachers and parish workers at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in the village of Kangyi Taw — said that when some 10 militiamen, “clearly intoxicated or under the influence of drugs,” encountered Ye Naing Win, they ordered him to kneel.
“I only kneel before God,” the priest calmly replied to the leader of the armed men. He then proceeded to ask them: “What can I do for you? Is there something we can talk about?”
Immediately one of the men struck Ye Naing Win from behind with a dagger that was still in its sheath. However, with this blow he also accidentally hit the leader of the armed group. Already in a drunken rage and because of the answer given to him by the priest, the leader pulled out a knife and began to stab him “repeatedly and brutally in his body and in the throat.”
Ye Naing Win endured the attack silently, “like a lamb led to the slaughter,” the witnesses said.
“Donald did not utter a word or a moan. He suffered the senseless violence without reacting, like an innocent man,” Fides stated. “The other men stood by and watched the murder being committed.”
Once the attack was over “the group of men left the scene,” the pontifical agency added.
The villagers, “amid shock and tears,” retrieved the priest’s body, washed it, and treated it with honor and respect.
The testimony of both women, Fides reported, was recorded and sent to Myanmar’s National Unity Government in exile, which said it was “deeply saddened by the murder of the parish priest Donald Martin of Mandalay” and pledged to “punish the perpetrators of the murder according to the law.”
The People’s Defense Forces of Shwebo district announced the arrest of 10 suspects, who they say belong to “a local defense group.”
“As it is known they belong to armed forces, the National Unity Government and the Ministry of Defense will take legal action by applying the law provided for the military,” the authorities of the Asian country explained.
The National Unity Government said it “strongly condemns attacks against civilians, including religious leaders, by any organization.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
More than 4,000 faithful attended the celebration of the Christmas Mass at the St. George Parish in the suburb of Edappally, India. / Credit: Anto Akkara
Kochi, India, Dec 28, 2023 / 14:35 pm (CNA).
While most of the approximately 350 parishes … […]
Bishop Stephen Chow’s ordination as bishop in Hong Kong’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Dec. 5, 2021 / Screenshot from livestream
Rome Newsroom, Dec 4, 2021 / 03:00 am (CNA).
Bishop Stephen Chow Sau-yan was ordained a bishop in Hong Kong’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Saturday.
“As a successor to the Apostles by the grace of Almighty God, I request your constant prayers that I may always be loyal to God’s will as a shepherd to the People of God in Hong Kong, and faithfully carry out my duties,” Chow said at the Mass on Dec. 4.
Cardinal John Tong Hon, the apostolic administrator of Hong Kong, presided over the Mass. Cardinal Joseph Zen and auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ha were co-celebrants.
“Through the Bishop’s wisdom and prudence, it is Christ himself who leads you in your earthly pilgrimage toward eternal happiness,” Tong said in his homily, according to the diocese of Hong Kong.
“He has been entrusted with the task of bearing witness to the truth of the Gospel, and with the ministry of the Spirit and of justice,” he said.
During the Mass, Chow laid face down on the floor in total surrender to God as the congregation recited the Litany of the Saints in Cantonese.
Bishop Chow said in a brief speech at the end of the Mass that he wanted to help “foster healing and connections” in the Catholic community in his “beloved hometown.”
“As the bishop, it is my desire to be a bridge between the government and the church in Hong Kong and between the Catholic Church, fellow Christian denominations, and other religions,” he said.
“It is through sincere connection with one another, including within our own diocese that emphatic understanding can be established, appreciation can be fostered, respect and trust can be deepened, and hopefully collaboration can become a living culture in our community.”
Chow also read aloud an excerpt from a letter that he recently received from Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J. The archbishop emeritus of Ottawa-Cornwall wrote: “Given the history of the church in China and Hong Kong, Catholicism can no longer be seen as a foreign religion, but as integral to Hong Kong society.”
More than 6,000 people tuned in live to watch Chow’s consecration Mass on YouTube.
Among those watching the livestream were priests and seminarians in Italy from the Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions (PIME), who have launched a prayer campaign for the newly consecrated bishop.
Father Gianni Criveller, who is helping to organize the campaign at the PIME missionary seminary in the Italian city of Monza, told UCA News that he knows that Bishop Chow will face “great difficulties and challenges.”
“The long-awaited consecration of the bishop calls for prayer and solidarity. Bishop Stephen has a very difficult task ahead of him humanly. In fact, it seems nearly impossible. However, we believe in the power of prayer and in the communion of those who entrust their lives to the Lord Jesus,” he said.
Pope Francis appointed Chow to be bishop of Hong Kong in May. Before his appointment, Hong Kong had been without a permanent bishop since January 2019.
Chow, 62, previously served as the provincial of the Jesuits’ Chinese Province. In that role, he led the Jesuit order in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and mainland China as the Vatican-China deal was first signed and during the crackdown on Hong Kong’s democracy protest movement.
Born in Hong Kong in 1959, Chow went on to study in the United States, earning a bachelor’s and master’s degree in psychology from the University of Minnesota, before entering the Society of Jesus in Dublin, Ireland at the age of 25.
During his Jesuit novitiate, he obtained a licentiate in philosophy in Ireland and then returned in 1988 to Hong Kong, where he was ordained to the priesthood on July 16, 1994.
Chow continued his studies at Loyola University in Chicago, where he earned a master’s degree in organizational development in 1995. He spent the next five years working as a campus minister, vocations director, and ethics teacher at Wah Yan College in Kowloon and Hong Kong.
In 2000, Chow began a doctoral program at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education studying development and psychology. He graduated with a Doctorate in Education in 2006.
The following year, he made his final vows in the Jesuit order and worked as an assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong from 2008 to 2015 and Jesuit Formator from 2009 to 2017. He also served as the president of the Chinese Jesuit Province’s education commission since 2009 and the Hong Kong Diocesan Council for Education since 2017.
Chow began his role as provincial of the Chinese Province of the Society of Jesus on Jan. 1, 2018.
Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China. Hong Kongers have historically enjoyed freedom of worship and evangelization, while in mainland China, by contrast, there is a long history of persecution for Christians who run afoul of the government.
With the 2020 passage of new “national security laws,” the Chinese government seized more power to suppress pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, which it sees as a direct challenge to its power.
Hong Kong’s National Security Law is broad in its definitions of terrorism, sedition, and foreign collusion. Under the law, a person who is convicted of the aforementioned crimes will receive a minimum of 10 years in prison, with the possibility of a life sentence.
On April 16, authorities in Hong Kong sentenced several Catholic pro-democracy figures, including lawyer Martin Lee and media tycoon Jimmy Lai, to prison sentences under the new security law.
“Hong Kong is going through perhaps the most dramatic phase of its history and has almost disappeared from the radar of international attention. However, those who love Hong Kong have not forgotten it,” Criveller said.
What a horrific story. I am so sorry to hear this. When governments are corrupt and allow lawlessness to flourish this is what happens. The question needs to be asked if this government has allowed these so-called militia groups to operate and commit violence with impunity? Or have they attempted to do anything about it?
A fine example for many Catholic hierarchy who have gone against the Word of God on Life, Marriage, Family, Creation and such.
Today Cancelled Priests and Bishops need our prayers.
Well done, good & faithful servant!
What a horrific story. I am so sorry to hear this. When governments are corrupt and allow lawlessness to flourish this is what happens. The question needs to be asked if this government has allowed these so-called militia groups to operate and commit violence with impunity? Or have they attempted to do anything about it?
Indeed. Father Donald, pray for us as you stand radiant in the presence of our Lord.
A fine example for many Catholic hierarchy who have gone against the Word of God on Life, Marriage, Family, Creation and such.
Today Cancelled Priests and Bishops need our prayers.