Agenzia Fides

Cuilapa (Agenzia Fides) - Bishop Bernabe de Jesus Sagastume Lemus, O.F.M .Cap., Bishop of St. Rose of Lima, in Guatemala, celebrated Mass in the Church of the Holy Family in memory of the priest, Father David Donis, who was assassinated on 27 January. The celebration in memory of Fr. Donis began on Sunday morning, on February 5, at 10, in a symbolic way, a commitment was maintained that the priest had every Sunday with the faithful, including the marriage of a young couple belonging to his parish, in the village of El Guayabo. The Bishop also celebrated the baptisms according to agreements made by the priest murdered with their families.
"I am here with you because the pastor, Father David Donis, is not here anymore. He should be here to celebrate the Eucharist, but unfortunately he was killed. We are saddened for his violent death," said Mgr. Sagastume. The Bishop recalled some passages from the book of Job, where it says that "life is like breath to our eyes, we see it only go by", referring to the transience of life on earth. So he asked the faithful to be united in these violent times. "We are not asking you to pay those responsible with the same money, but we ask them stop killing people," said Bishop Sagastume, who praised the authorities for the arrest of the alleged murders and asked for investigations to be carried out well, because "the murder of a priest is a case of great impact". However, he also asked to investigate quickly on most violent acts that occur daily in Guatemala.
Father David Donis Barrera, 70, had been pastor for two years in the parish of the Sagrada Familia, in Santa Rosa. Guatemala is now one of the countries with the highest rates of violence in Latin America: there are an average of 16 murders a day in a population of just 14.3 million inhabitants. In 2011 about 6,000 people were killed, according to data from the local press. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 07/02/2012)