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Rosary Said For Slain Kansas Priest Arul Raj Balaswamy Carasala

Rural Kansas parish holds prayer vigil for beloved priest tragically killed by gunman.

April 4, 2025

SENECA, Kan. (OSV News) — On the evening of April 3, hundreds of people packed Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Seneca, a small rural community of about 2,100, late April 3 to pray for and mourn their beloved pastor and friend, Father Arul Carasala, 57, who was shot sometime between 2 and 3 p.m. at the parish rectory.

Transported to a local hospital, he died there as a result of his wounds.

Although he had not yet been formally charged, Gary Hermesch, 66, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was arrested and booked into the Nemaha County jail for first-degree murder in connection with the priest’s death, according to a statement released by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. The investigation is ongoing. 

In the meantime, people from the parish and nearby communities of Corning, Kelly, Centralia, Wetmore, Sabetha, Wetmore, Blue Rapids and other towns came together for a prayer vigil consisting of a rosary, the chaplet of Divine Mercy and an evening Mass celebrated by Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City and concelebrated by eight priests from throughout the deanery.

https://theleaven.org/rural-kansas-parish-holds-rosary-and-mass-for-beloved-priest-tragically-killed-by-gunman/

THE LEAVEN

Rural Kansas parish holds rosary and Mass for beloved priest tragically killed by gunman

“So, we pray tonight. We pray for all of you. We pray for all those that mourn Father Arul in India and here, for all whose hearts are hurting, that the Lord will bring consolation.”

“But we pray also for the perpetrator, that the Lord will touch his heart as well,” concluded the archbishop. “We pray that we respond to this tragedy not with violence for violence but let us respond in the way that Jesus has revealed to us — with love and with mercy.”

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O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
O Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Walsingham, Mother of God and our most gentle Queen and Mother, look down in mercy upon us, our parish, our country, our homes, and our families, and upon all who greatly hope and trust in thy prayers. By thee it was that Jesus, our Saviour and hope, was given to the world; and He has given thee to us that we may hope still more. Plead for us your children, whom thou didst receive and accept at the foot of the Cross, O sorrowful Mother. Intercede for our separated brethren, that with us in the one true fold they may be united to the Chief Shepherd, the Vicar of thy Son. Pray for us all, dear Mother, that by faith, fruitful in good works, we all may be made worthy to see and praise God, together with thee in our heavenly home. Amen.