Kidapawan (AsiaNews) - "The witness
and martyrdom of Fr. Fausto Tentorio help us to live this Easter aware of the
sacrifice of Jesus who died and rose again for our salvation" says Fr. John
Vettoretto missionary with the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions in Arakan
Valley (North Cotabato, Mindanao) and confrere of Fr. Tentorio,
the priest shot to death Oct. 17, 2011.
"The
entire population of Arakan has already lived its Holy Week in October,"
Fr. Vettoretto
tells AsiaNews, emphasizing that
grief over the death of Fr. Fausto
and the fruits of his mission are a tangible sign of the presence of Christ
among these people. The
priest says that the celebration of Easter will be very simple. Young
people are preparing the traditional songs in Manobo. They
will be performed during the Stations of the Cross and Mass of Easter, which is
traditionally celebrated at 4 am. During
the Mass a young tribal woman will be baptized.
According
to the priest, Fr. Fausto's
death has deeply marked the tribal faithful in Arakan Valley.
"Every
month the population participates with devotion in the memorial Mass for the
missionary. The faithful, some coming from far away, pray for their families, missionaries
and for the Church."
Fr. Vettoretto
adds that "the message conveyed by the martyred priest in his 30 years of
apostolate has instilled in their hearts a seed of hope that helps them to face
the economic difficulties and not succumb to the cases of violence and abuse which
are commonplace in these regions battered by
war against the Maoists, Islamic extremists and drug traffickers. "
AsiaNews
sources point out that after the arrest of Jimmy Ato, alleged murderer of the
missionary, the investigations are at a standstill. To
date, the man has pleaded not guilty, noting that he only had a marginal role
in the death of the missionary. The
other four people involved in the killing are still at large.
Fr. Fausto
Tentorio is the PIME third missionary to be killed in the Philippines and the island of Mindanao.
In 1985, Fr. Tullio
Favali was killed in Tulunan, in the Diocese of Kidapawan, by a group of private
armed guards, in 1992, Fr. Salvatore
Carzedda, engaged in dialogue with Muslims, was killed in Zamboanga. In 2007, Fr. Giancarlo
Bossi was kidnapped by a splinter group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front,
but was released after two months of captivity. In 1998 Fr. Luciano Benedetti was also kidnapped. His
abductors, a Muslim group, released him after about 2 months. (SC)