40-year-old priest killed while confessing

The Dominican priest Joseph Tran Ngoc Thanh, 40, was murdered last Saturday, January 29, while he was listening to confessions in the missionary parish of the diocese of Kon Tumin Vietnam . The priest was in the confessional when he was attacked by a mentally unstable man.

Secondo Vatican News, another Dominican religious pursued the attacker but was also stabbed. The faithful waiting for the start of the Mass were shocked. Police arrested the suspect in the crime.

The Bishop of Kon Tum, Aloisiô Nguyên Hùng Vi, presided over the funeral mass. “Today we celebrate Mass to greet a brother priest who died suddenly. This morning I learned the shocking news, ”the bishop said during Mass. “We know that God's will is mysterious, we cannot fully understand the ways of him. We can only hand our brother over to the Lord. And when Father Joseph Tran Ngoc Thanh returns to enjoy the face of God, he certainly will not forget us ”.

Father Joseph Tran Ngoc Thanh was born on August 10, 1981 in Saigon, South Vietnam. He joined the Order of Preachers on August 13, 2010 and was ordained a priest in 2018. The priest was buried in the Bien Hoa cemetery.