Superior General, Fr. Louis Moolaveetil’s death shocks Church

A pall of gloom fell on the Church following the murder of Imitation of Christ Superior General Father Louis Moolaveetil in Nagpur, central India, Sept 17.

Father Moolaveetil and Father Mathew Thuruthil were on their way to the airport when two unidentified youths on a motorbike shot at them. They assailants decamped with the superior general´s brief case that contained 5,000 rupees (US$200) and two air tickets.

Father Thuruthil told UCA News Sept 25 that his superior fell on his lap with a “big wound on his chest.” The bullet had pierced his heart and death was “instantaneous.”

The priest said they were coming from their new house at Bhilai in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

“We were to board the Bombay flight to Kerala,” he explained.

Father Moolaveetil, 55, was about to complete his six-year term as superior general of the Order of the Imitation of Christ, a congregation belonging to the Syro-Malankara Church.

More than 10,000 people attended the Sept. 20 funeral at the Bethany ashram, the congregation´s house in Tiruvalla, some 150 kilometers north of Kerala, the state capital of Trivandrum.

Archbishop Benedict Mar Gregorios of Trivandrum received the body. Mourners included Kerala legislative assembly speaker P.P. Thankachan and Indian Orthodox Church head Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews II, Bishops Geevarghese Mar Thimotheos of Tiruvalla, Peter Thuruthikonam of Vijayapuram and Kuriakose Kunnassery of Kottayam.

Condemning the incident, the state legislative assembly urged the federal and Maharashtra state governments Sept. 19 to take immediate action to apprehend the culprits.

Kerala Catholic Bishops´ Council president Archbishop Cornelius Elenjikal of Verapoly said the incident has saddened the Church and expressed the hope that Father Moolaveetil´s sacrifice will help Church and society.

“It is very sad that such incidents happen repeatedly in a country known for its ancient civilization and secular thoughts,” he added.

All Kerala Catholic Congress president M.D. Joseph expressed anguish over increasing incidents of atrocities on missioners in the country.

Montfort Brother John, secretary of the Conference of Religious India, told UCA News Sept. 25 that the incident symbolized a cult of violence now spreading in the country.

It is “just another case of murder and banditry,” he said.

Source: UCA News