Catholic Priest killed by terrorists in the Philippines

The local news is reporting the killing of a Catholic priest here in the Philippines.

Fr Rey Roda a missionary of the Oblate of Mary Immaculate was killed on Tuesday. 50 year old Fr Roda was the leader of a mission in Tawi Tawi in the far south of the county. This area is a base for Abu Saayff an Al Qaeda linked terrorist group who have recently been targeting Catholic priests and missionaries. You will remember Fr Bossi was kidnapped last year, and a couple of years ago an Evangelical missionary was kidnapped and killed by the same group. It appears that this was a case of attempted kidnap turned murder. Fr Roda was leading a retreat for teachers at the school led by his mission. During an evening prayer meeting in the chapel armed men burst in and demanded Fr Roda leave with them. Fr Roda resisted, there was a struggle, and in the basketball court one of the terrorists pulled out a handgun and shot him in the head. The gang escaped taking with them a teacher as hostage and also kidnapping a local fisherman whose boat they stole.

I am pleased to hear that both Christian and Muslim leaders have called for peace and that the criminals responsible be brought to justice as soon as possible. The southern Philippines is a volatile area, and Christian / Muslim tensions run high and go back a long way, and it is these that groups like Abu Saayyff seek to exploit.The bishop of the Episcopal Church in the Southern Philippines is based in Cotabato in Mindanao, and there many Muslims have attended catholic prayer vigils bringing food as a sign of community solidarity. The leader of the Muslims in this area appealed for calm and made a public statement that ‘Allah is not happy with this’ (Fr Roda’s death).

Like Fr Bossi, Fr Roda was a worker for peace and reconciliation between faiths and communities, which may well have been why he was targeted. He had helped with the construction of a mosque in the mission compound for Muslim students attending the school, and was well regarded by leaders on both sides of the religious divide. A full scale manhunt is now underway, but it will not be easy as this area consists of dozens of small forested islands, with hundreds of hiding places.

“His death was unthinkable. He helped a lot of people there, he had many scholars, mostly Muslims. He was very vocal about peace and development issues in the area, but he did not have enemies.” Said Fr Domingo, one of Roda’s colleagues.