Pope mourns missionary slain in Brazil

(Sept.23,2009): Pope Benedict XVI expressed his condolences at the death of Father Ruggero Ruvoletto, an “fidei donum” Italian missionary killed on Saturday in Brazil. The Pope sent his sympathies in a telegram signed by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, and addressed to Archbishop Luiz Soares Vieira of Manaus. In the message, the Holy Father strongly condemned this cruel act against a peaceful servant of the Gospel, and expressed his spiritual closeness in prayer to the victim’s family. Father Ruvoletto was murdered on Saturday in his parish of St. Evelina, on the outskirts of Manaus, in northeastern Brazil.
Police initially said the homicide was associated with a robbery. However the Italian Bishops SIR news agency reported on Tuesday that there is growing certainty the slaying is part of a series of acts of intimidation against the Church in the Manaus region because for a long time it has denounced criminal activities, including trafficking in drugs and human beings. There are documents and interviews dating back to 2006 that show how the 52-year-old Fr.Ruvoletto was vocal in denouncing "drugs and prostitution as social plagues."