NEW DELHI, India, APRIL 29, 2010 (Zenit.org).- A 73-year-old priest was killed Wednesday night near Mumbai. Motives for the murder are still undetermined, but it is not believed that Hindu extremists were responsible.
Father Peter Bombacha, soon to turn 74, was killed in Baboola. He was a popular priest who had founded and directed a center for recovering alcoholics.
Archbishop Felix Machado of Vasai told AsiaNews that “Father Peter was a priest full of faith, serving the Church and the people without discrimination of caste or creed. He forgot himself to serve the most poor and abandoned.”
The bishop further affirmed that he does not believe the person or persons responsible for the priest’s death are Hindu fundamentalists. Though Christians in India have been suffering at the hands of fundamentalists, particularly since last August, Bishop Machado clarified that in this region, there are no fundamentalist groups.
“Indeed,” he told the Fides news agency, “relations with the Hindu community in the territory are excellent. Many Hindu faithful have come today to express dismay and solidarity.”
