Why are they killing priests, of all people?

The priests, just like the Jewish rabbis, the Muslim imams, and the pastors of Christian congregations, are among the most useful and most harmless people in any and all communities. To kill any of them is nothing but sheer madness. These consecrated people of God are driven only by their self-imposed mission to serve the Church and God’s people. They are unselfish, self-sacrificing, and have no hidden agenda. In fact, they have made a vow to offer their life to the Lord. Thus, anyone who even thinks of harming them must either be deranged mentally or are deeply troubled and live corrupted lives.

Well, of course, there seem to be too many killings nowadays, and most of them are left unsolved and forgotten. The usual victims of these unsolved murders are the village drug addicts or street urchins who have no solid family life and who are notorious for being involved, one way or another, in the drug trade. The usual suspects behind these killings are either the police, the PDEA, or rival thugs in the same community. But, in most cases, no definitive findings or conclusive determination is ever undertaken. They just become part of the country’s crime statistics. In most cases, there is no closure to these cases and the victims’ families are left crying for justice.

As a devoted Catholic, I do not, for the life of me, approve such killings, even as the victims are, admittedly, undesirable elements. I hold the conviction that no man, no matter how well-intentioned, has the right to peremptorily terminate the life of any human, even if such is a pain in the neck, or a burden to society. I do condemn any form of extra-judicial killing and summary execution. However, I am fair-minded and level-headed. I do not lay the blame for the killings on the police and the authorities. For all we know, it is the drug syndicates themselves that are cleansing their ranks. Those victims might have known too much for their own safety and security.

To my mind, the killing of any priest is the most despicable, most reprehensible, and most irrational act a Christian or any human being could ever do. While I am not prepared to say the killing of drug addicts and other social burdens is less abominable, I am inclined to think that killing a priest is an unforgivable sin. I do believe that the gravity of a crime or offense should be measured not only on the criterion of the intrinsic evil of the act itself. The more serious measure of gravity is the far-reaching consequences and implications of the consummation of the heinous act.

It is then my inevitable conclusion that the crime of killing a priest should be categorized among the most deplorable acts that any person can commit. It should deserve the highest form of penalty, reclusion perpetua, with no opportunity for presidential pardon, chance for legislative amnesty, judicial clemency.