Washington D.C., Jun 16, 2010 / 05:04 am
Last October, the parishioners at St. Patrick's Church in Chatham, N.J., were horrified when their pastor, Father Edward Hinds, was found murdered in the rectory. Tuesday, in an article appearing in The Wall Street Journal, former presidential speech writer William McGurn described his experiences “as a guest” in the St. Patrick's community, where he has seen firsthand over the past months the love and compassion of a community struck by tragedy.
The community of Chatham, where St. Patrick's is located, houses about 10,000 residents and is generally a peaceful area. Parishioners were shocked when Father Edward, pastor at St. Partick's since 2003, was found dead on Oct. 23. He had been stabbed 32 times with a kitchen knife.
The murder made national headlines as the church janitor, Jose Feliciano, was arrested. Feliciano, known in the parish as “Mr. Jose,” had worked at the church for 17 years, where he and his family were also parishioners.
Feliciano had recently been dismissed due to parish finances.