Slain priest's kin in Italy shocked; PHL sends condolences

Relatives of Italian priest Fausto Tentorio, who was gunned down in Cotabato last Monday, have voiced shock and dismay over his brutal death. Tentorio's elder brother Felix said they were surprised since the priest had said there was nothing to fear about the situation in his mission area in the southern Philippines. "We are shocked and dismayed. The last time my brother came to Italy, a year and a half ago, he told us that the situation in Kidapawan was not tense at all, that there was nothing to fear. And now this news... We always advised him to be cautious, be careful," he said in an interview on AsiaNews.

A lone gunman shot Tentorio dead in Arakan Valley in Kidapawan diocese Monday morning. Tentorio had spent more than 32 years as PIME (Pontificio Instituto Missioni Estere) missionary in the Philippines. He narrowly escaped being executed in 2003, on one of his visits to a tribes folk in the Arakan Valley in Kitaotao town. Recalling his visit to the Philippines last January, Tentorio's nephew Simone, 27, a bank clerk, said his uncle "was very peaceful and serene, even if he was prudent. When we passed areas that he did not know, he locked the car and closed the windows. But there seemed to be no problems. I even walked to visit the place and the house where he had escaped execution in 2003." Simon said he is still impressed by the simplicity and poverty in which his uncle lived. "He was a person who wanted to live exactly like the local people and he was loved because of this," he said. AsiaNews reported Tentorio's family received the news of his death directly from the Philippines. They also received a visit from the PIME superior in Milan. They were to attend a memorial Mass for Tentorio in the parish of his native town Monday evening. Fr. John Vettoretto, who had lived with the victim, believes his confrere could be the victim of a revenge attack. In the Kidapawan Diocese, Tentorio had headed the Filipino Apostolate for the tribes folk, and may have crossed paths with mining companies occupying tribal lands there. Condolences Meanwhile, the Philippine Embassy in Rome contacted PIME general house in Rome Monday to express condolences. "The Embassy spoke with Fr. Mark Tardiff, Assistant Superior General of PIME in Rome, to assure Fr. Tentorio's congregation that the Embassy is coordinating with authorities in the Philippines on the results of the investigation, particularly on the identity of the killer and the motive for the killing," the Department of Foreign Affairs said. According to the DFA, Tardiff thanked the Philippine government for its efforts to investigate the killing. It said he is "hopeful" that "the person or persons responsible would be apprehended soonest." — LBG, GMA News