Priest shot dead in western Canada

(Vatican Radio) The president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Paul-André Durocher, expressed his sympathies to the bishop and faithful of Saint Paul Diocese on Tuesday for the recent brutal murder of one of their priests.

Thirty-two-year-old Fr Gilbert Dasna, smmm, was found dead in his parish rectory on Friday, with gunshot wounds to the chest.

A native of Cameroon, Fr Dasna was serving as the associate pastor of St. Paul Cathedral Parish in the western Canadian Diocese of St Paul, Alberta, at the time of his death. He was also serving as the administrator of two parishes, Sacred Heart and St Matthias.

A statement issued by the diocese says Bishop Paul Terrio and the entire Catholic community mourn Fr Dasna “as a good man and a good priest who radiated daily both joy and peace. He died in his service as a priest to the people of St Paul”.

“The Diocese of St. Paul awaits the completion of the police investigation of this tragedy before further commenting on the circumstances of the death of Reverend Gilbert Dasna,” reads the statement. Though Pierre Lamoureux, a diocesan spokesman, told The Globe and Mail the church had no idea what motive anyone could have had to kill Fr Dasna.

A member of the Nigerian-based missionary order Sons of Mary Mother of Mercy, Fr Dasna was ordained a priest on July 11, 2009. His death came on the third anniversary of his arrival in Canada.

Report by Laura Ieraci