A 41-year-old Vietnamese priest died Saturday evening after being stabbed multiple times while hearing confessions, according to the Vatican.
The Rev. Joseph Tran Ngoc Thanh of the Dominican order succumbed to his injuries around 11:30 p.m. after being stabbed several times during confession and while celebrating the sacrament of reconciliation, the Vatican’s Fides news agency reported.
“We know that the will of God is mysterious. We cannot fully understand the ways of the Lord,” Bishop Aloisio Nguyen Hung Vi, the head of the Diocese of Kon Tum said during a funeral mass Sunday.
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“We can only place our brother in the hands of the Lord. Father Joseph travels in eternity and, no matter what happened, no one can separate him, or us, from the love of God,” Nguyen said. “When he was hit, Father Joseph stood in the place of Christ, dispensing his forgiveness.”
The suspect, whom local police officers described as being “mentally ill,” also stabbed another member of the Dominican order who had been trying to stop the attack, according to the outlet. The suspected attacker was arrested by police.
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Thanh was described by the Rev. Paul Cao Thang as being committed to serving people with all types of backgrounds who came to the diocese.
Thanh was laid to rest at St. Martin’s Chapel located in the town of Bien Hoa on Monday, according to the outlet. His body was interred in a cemetery where other Dominican friars have been laid to rest.
