NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      QUITO (CWNews.com) - A Salesian priest was killed in Ecuador on Sunday, January 25-- apparently as he came to the aid of a family being attacked by young criminals.

      Father Favio Rojas was fatally wounded by gunfire on a bus, after leaving confirmation ceremonies in the parish church of San Francisco de Guayaquil. Witnesses said that the 41-year-old priest, a native of Colombia, was killed when he tried to stop the mugging of a woman and two young children.

      Msgr. Arturo Vazquez, the Salesian superior of the slain priest, mourned the loss of a faithful pastoral worker, who had been particularly active among the poor of Ecuador. He noted that the killers must certainly have known that their victim was a priest, since at the time of the assault Father Rojas he was wearing his clerical clothes, "and even a very visible cross."