Fr. Nomer de Lumen, a Catholic priest of the diocese of Antipolo, suffragan of the archdiocese of Manila, was found dead due to gunshots in his room on September 9, 2020. He was 32 years old.
This is what the local Church reports to Agenzia Fides. According to ongoing investigations, the lifeless body of Father De Lumen, parish vicar of St. John the Baptist church in Taytay, in the province of Rizal, near Manila, was found in his room around 3:45 pm local time on September 9, by a pastoral worker who called the police. A revolver and two bullets were found at the scene of the crime and the priest’s body sustained a fatal gunshot wound to his chin, first police findings revealed. The dynamics of the priest’s death have yet to be ascertained and whether it is a murder. At the moment all the hypotheses are being examined by the investigators and interrogations are underway.
The chancellor of the diocese of Antipolo, Fr. Alejandro Pestaño, said that the funeral of the deceased will be held today, 11 September, in St. Judas Thaddeus parish, in Tanay. The diocese of Antipolo has not yet issued an official statement on the reasons for the death of the deceased priest, pending communications from the investigators.
Deep discouragement is registered in the local Catholic community. Priests, religious and laypeople from various parishes are in mourning and express their affection and appreciation for Fr. Nomer on social media. «This is a serious loss for our community: a priest who gave so much and could still give to the pastoral and missionary work», note the comments of the local faithful. Special prayer vigils and rosary prayer groups were born spontaneously in the diocesan community, dedicated to Father Nomer de Lumen.
Father De Lumen was a young priest, who recently became a priest, and had been appointed assistant parish priest in St. John the Baptist Parish, in Taytay in December 2019. He was also Director of the Commission for Social Communications of the Diocese of Antipolo.
