Cotabato, Philippines, Jan 16, 2008 / 23:12 pm
An Oblate priest was shot to death on Tuesday when he resisted armed men who attempted to kidnap him from his mission in the southern Philippines.
The murder could reflect growing terrorist influence in the country.
UCA News reports that Father Jesus Reynaldo Roda, 53, was praying in the chapel of Notre Dame of Tabawn school when armed men “barged in” and tried to take him away.
Father Ramon Bernabe, who is Fr. Roda’s superior, wrote in a report sent to UCA News that Father Roda “struggled and resisted” the attackers, and “explicitly said that he preferred to be killed right there and then.”