SALESIAN PRIEST MURDERED IN ECUADOR

Killed by Delinquents While Defending a Family

 

by George Williams


QUITO, JAN 26 After concluding a Confirmation ceremony in the Church of
Saint  Francis in Guayaquil, Salesian Father Favio Rojas was killed in a bus
while attempting to stop  two common delinquents from assaulting a woman
with her two children.  Father Rojas, who was Colombian and 41 years of age,
was shot in the  thorax, suffering severe  wounds in vital organs which
caused his death a few hours later in a local clinic.

Bishop Arturo Vazquez, superior of the Salesian Community, expressed his
sorrow over losing  one of his most faithful collaborators, who was very
active in the local apostolate, especially with  younger children.

"His hefty physique and short hair made him look like a traffic warden or a
policeman; we often  joked about this," Bishop Vazquez commented but, in
fact, the priest wore his cassock "and a  cross which was very visible."