Father Donald Martin Ye Naing Win of the Archdiocese of Mandalay, 44, refused to grovel to a group of 10 militiamen when they confronted him at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in the village of Kangyi Taw, Myanmar (Burma).
(LifeSiteNews) -- A Catholic priest faced an armed gang with courage and dignity before its leader stabbed him to death.
Father Donald Martin Ye Naing Win of the Archdiocese of Mandalay, 44, refused to grovel to a group of 10 militiamen when they confronted him at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in the village of Kangyi Taw, Myanmar (Burma), on February 14. According to two female eyewitnesses, when the squad ordered Martin to his knees, the priest replied, “I kneel only before God.”
The priest then asked what he could do for them and if there was a matter they could discuss. In response, one of the men hit Martin with a sheathed knife, inadvertently also striking the leader of the gang, who then stabbed the priest repeatedly, almost severing his head from his body.
According to the Vatican news agency Fides, the gang had first threatened two female parish workers who were helping Martin organize classes for the children of the village’s 40 Catholic families. The women reported that the men, who came from a neighboring village, were intoxicated, either drunk or high on drugs.
In contrast, Martin remained calm and did not utter a word or resist as his murderers attacked him but was simply “like a lamb to the slaughter.” When the priest collapsed in a pool of blood, the militiamen left.
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Fides reported that the women alerted the villagers, who then contacted soldiers of the People’s Defense Force (PDF), the official armed forces of the “government in exile” opposed to the military junta that controls other parts of the country. According to missions' information service, the PDF has arrested ten suspects.
Martin was ordained in 2018, and Fides reported that he was a zealous, faithful priest:
In this period of civil war, he carried out his task as pastor of souls with zeal, fidelity and obedience, administering the sacraments in the parish and trying to be close to the suffering community. Furthermore, like so many other priests, he dedicated himself to humanitarian assistance to displaced people scattered throughout the territory, bringing them spiritual consolation and material aid.
According to LiCAS News, Martin’s funeral was held on February 17 at the Catholic Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in his home village of Pyin Oo Lwin. Despite the dangers of travel in the wartorn region, 5,000 mourners came to pay their respects. Archbishop Marco Tin Win presided over the funeral, and during his homily he condemned the violence plaguing the country, saying that it “brings only death and destruction; it is always a defeat.”
LiCAS reported that the archbishop implored “all groups and actors involved in the conflict to lay down their weapons and take a path of peace and reconciliation.”
Martin is believed to be the first Catholic priest killed in Burma since the outbreak of civil war four years ago.
