Pope Francis leads prayer for priest killed by a homeless he tried to help

Pope Francis led on Wednesday a moment of silent prayer for a priest who was stabbed to his death in Como, Italy by a homeless person the pastor had helped, the Vatican Media said.

An article by Hannah Brockhaus published by the Catholic News Agency and posted on CBCP News website on September 16, quoted Pope Francis as saying during his weekly audience in the Vatican,  "Fr. Roberto Malgesini, 51, was a martyred witness of charity towards the poorest."

Pope Francis said, “I join in the pain and prayers of his family members and the Como community and, as his bishop said, I praise God for the witness, that is, for the martyrdom, of this witness of charity towards the poorest.”

Fr. Malgesini was known for his care for the homeless and migrants in the northern Italian diocese. He was killed last Tuesday near his parish, St. Rocco’s Church, by one of the migrants he helped, the article said.

Also, it quoted the Pope speaking to pilgrims, Malgesini was killed “by a person in need whom he himself helped, a person with a mental illness.”

Pausing for a moment of silent prayer, he asked those present to pray for Fr. Roberto and for “all the priests, sisters, lay people who work with people in need and rejected by society."

Addressing his weekly audience, Pope Francis drew a line connecting the exploitation of God’s creation in nature and exploitation of people.

“There is one thing that we must not forget: those who do not know how to contemplate nature and creation do not know how to contemplate people in their richness. Whoever lives to exploit nature ends up exploiting people and treating them as slaves.” —LBG, GMA News