Persecution 20/07/01 Third Catholic priest ends life in India in 10 days - A suicide note said the priest was frustrated but diocesan officials are unaware of the

[성기화 요셉]

Third Catholic priest ends life in India in 10 days

A suicide note said the priest was frustrated but diocesan officials are unaware of the cause

Saji Thomas

Updated: July 02, 2020 02:37 PM GMT

Trending

1

Beijing must pay a price for destroying Hong Kong's freedoms

Jun 30, 2020

2

Third Catholic priest ends life in India in 10 days

Jul 2, 2020

3

Communist China continues its blitz on crosses

Jun 30, 2020

4

A Catholic country struggles with its inner demons 

Jun 29, 2020

5

Defiant Cardinal Zen: I am ready to be arrested

Jul 1, 2020

6

Indonesian Church goes public on an evil within

Jun 30, 2020

7

The plot thickens in case of murdered Christian activist

Jun 29, 2020

8

Delicate Vatican-China pact negotiations likely next month

Jun 29, 2020

9

Indian cardinal clarifies reports of priests missing Covid-19 funerals

Jul 1, 2020

10

Indian bishops condemn custodial deaths of two Christians

Jun 29, 2020

Father Xavier Alwin, 31, was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his room on July 1. (Photo supplied)

Share this article :

    

In the third such incident in India in 10 days, a Catholic priest was found hanging from the ceiling fan of his residence in Tuticorin Diocese in southern India's Tamil Nadu state.Father Xavier Alwin, 36, was found in his room within the premises of a diocesan-run school in Thoothukudi district on July 1. He was a teacher in the school.Bishop Stephen Antony Pillai of Tuticorin said police recovered a suicide note saying the priest was "frustrated." The bishop said he was unaware of the cause of "frustration that led him to take the extreme step." Tuticorin is the anglicized name for Thoothukudi."The police are investigating the case. We will know the reasons after that," he told UCA News.When Father Alwin failed to show up for breakfast, the bishop said, others in the house were not concerned. But when he was not seen outside even after 11am, one of the priests knocked on his door. 

Related News

-

Church group seeks probe into Indian nun's unnatural death

Kerala priest's body found in well in suspected suicide 

Catholic priest found hanging in Indian parish

Depressed Indians resort to suicide as Covid-19 takes its toll

"When there was no response, he used a spare key to open the door and found Father Alwin hanging from the ceiling fan," Bishop Pillai said on July 2. He said police recovered the suicide note and seized the priest's cellphone. They have also sealed off the room."It is unfortunate. The priest was very active, kind-hearted and mingled with everyone. People loved him so much," the prelate said."It is unbelievable that he took such a step. People who know him wonder what has happened to him." The funeral of Father Alwin, after a post mortem, is scheduled for his native parish in Amalinagar on July 2.On June 20, the body of 50-year-old Father Yeruva Bala Shoury Reddy was found hanging from the ceiling fan of his bedroom in Kolakalur parish in Guntur Diocese of Andhra Pradesh state.Before hanging himself, the priest had tried to kill himself by stabbing himself in his stomach. A suicide note said he was depressed and took the extreme step.On June 22, the body of another priest, 51-year-old Father George Ettupara, was fished out of a well near his parish in Punnathura village in Kerala state. He is also suspected of committing suicide following depression.A 21-year-old student nun's body was found in the well of her convent on May 7. The nun belonged to the convent of the Basilian congregation in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district.Last year on Oct. 11, Father Mahesh D'Souza, 36, of Udupi Diocese in Karnataka state, was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his room. He was a parish priest and principal of a diocese-run school.Racism, the Church and healing for a broken world