SW News: The Catholic hierarchy and believers in Bolivia are grieving the killing of a Franciscan missionary priest. Fr Wilberth Daza Rodas OFM, 42, was murdered on the night between Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday by burglars who entered the chapel of the monastery of San Francisco in the city of Santa Cruz after the service was over. In a statement issued on April 17, the bishops of the country have denounced “the culture of violence that is growing in Bolivia” that manifests as infanticide, robberies, and murders.

While inviting everyone to cultivate a “culture of peace, where everyone can live in fraternity”, the bishops sought a precise investigation as early as possible leading to the clarification of the terrible crime.

In their statement, the prelates conveyed their solidarity with the Franciscans saying that they hope the “light of the Risen Jesus Christ shines in our hearts and in our world where there is so much darkness, suffering and death". It appears that the friar was fatally clubbed with a blunt object. It was a parish worker who found the body of Fr Wilberth in the morning. Meanwhile, the Archdiocese of Santa Cruz de la Sierra expressed their condolences to the family of Fr Wilberth and to his Missionary Province of San Antonio.

Fr Wilberth was born in Machareti, Sucre, on September 26, 1979, and he took his first vows on March 14, 2009. He was serving as a missionary in Sucre, Cochabamba, in Copacabana - La Paz, Machareti, San Javier and Santa Cruz de la Sierra. He was also handling the charge of the bursar of the monastery. "We ask the entire Church of Santa Cruz to raise its prayers for the soul of Friar Wilberth Daza Rodas OFM, so that he may reach eternal rest in the arms of our heavenly Father,” reads the message of the archdiocese.

OFM Minister General Friar Massimo Fusarelli said the deceased priest was "a humble and helpful brother, who met his sisterly death after celebrating the One who defeated death. Many times, we do not understand the meaning of what is happening to us and we cry out to God our pain and our doubts. But we also ask him for a firmer and deeper faith".

There are media reports that investigators have traced the killer whom they say is a man addicted to narcotic substances who used to frequent the church.