” “A diocesan priest who was a parish priest in Goa, India, was killed the between Friday and Saturday night, but the reasons for the murder are still unknown. Father Eusébio Ferrão, 61, was smothered with a pillow while in bed in the parish of Saint Francis Xavier, in Macasana, southern Goa. The archdiocese of Goa, in condemning the murder, wrote in a release that it has asked "the authorities to act quickly to deliver to justice the authors of this mean crime". The funeral service has been planned for today, in the ancient city of Deussua-Chinchinim, told the Portuguese Catholic agency "Ecclesia". According to the local press, the main suspects are two men who approached the priest to ask him for hospitality. Father Ferrão was known for his meek and benevolent character, for his commitment to peace and for his firm condemnation of any form of religion-based violence. Goa, a former Portuguese colony, is known for the peaceful cohabitation of different religions, even if in the last few years, as written in some notes by the Bishops Conference of India, violence against Catholics has increased, with Catholic churches and religious symbols desecrated and picked on. Mgr. Filipe Neri Ferrao, archbishop of Goa and Daman, had condemned in the last few days the growth "of violence against the places and symbols that belong to minority communities", asking the local authorities to "take effectiove measures to restore people’s confidence".” “
