The parish priest of the San Juan Bautista Diocesan Eucharistic Shrine in the Diocese of San Carlos in the State of Cojedes, Fr. José Manuel De Jesús Ferreira, was shot dead on Tuesday the 20th of  October, after holding a private Mass in the parish church.

After the Mass, Fr. Ferreira was talking and saying goodbye to parishioners at the entrance to the parish house. Several armed men came by and subdued them in order to enter the house and rob it. Apparently, the priest resisted the assault, so the armed men shot him lethally. He was shot dead in the chest when one of the armed men was holding one of the parishioners, and the priest stepped in to help that person.

The pontifical foundation, ACN wrote a statement: “It greatly saddens us that this 39-year-old priest has become the victim of the violence that has plagued the country for years, at a time when Venezuela needs its priests more than ever.”

Fr. Ferreira was born in Caracas on the 25th of November 1980, to Portuguese immigrants. He was the third of four siblings. Due to the unstable situation in Venezuela, his mother had to return to Madeira, Portugal. He was ordained on the 19th of  December 2009.

Source: Aleteia.org