#BreakingNews Beloved Priest Brutally Killed on Valentine's Day - Thousands Attend Funeral - RIP Fr. Donald Martin

A Catholic priest was brutally killed on Valentine's Day in the Archdiocese of Mandalay, in the country of Myanmar. Father Donald Martin, age 44, a diocesan priest of the Archdiocese, is the first Burmese Catholic priest killed in the civil conflict that is bloodying the country. His lifeless body, mutilated and disfigured by stab wounds, was found on February 14 at 6 am, by parishioners in the grounds of the parish of Our Lady of Lourdes, where he was the parish priest. The church is located in the village of Kan Gyi Taw, in the territory of the Shwe Bo district, which is part of the Sagaing region. According to Fides sources, the man was violently and cruelly stabbed several times. The bloody manner in which the killing was carried out suggests a targeted attack for reasons that have yet to be investigated, just as the killers have yet to be identified: not an easy task in a context of widespread violence, with clashes raging between opposition militias and the Burmese army.
The news has caused shock and deep sadness in the local community. The faithful have mobilized to try to understand the cause of the killing and the identity of the killers. The Sagaing region in northern Myanmar is one of those where fighting and clashes between the People's Defense Forces and the Burmese army are a daily occurrence.
Father Donald Martin, was ordained a priest in 2018. 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.
More than 5,000 people, despite the dangers and general violence, gathered in the village of Pyin Oo Lwin to pay their last respects to Catholic priest Donald Martin Ye Naing Win. The mountain village of Pyin Oo Lwin is the birthplace of Father Donald, where his family lives. There, priests, religious, faithful gathered around the Archbishop of Mandalay, Marco Tin Win, in the Catholic Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary to celebrate the funeral mass and offer consolation to Father Donald's family, who attended the funeral mass. The moving participation of the people, according to Fides sources present at the celebration, set the scene for the Mass during which the Archbishop read the message of the Apostolic Nunciature in Yangon and the condolences of the Bishops' Conference of Myanmar, which express deep and sincere solidarity with the local population.

Archbishop Marco Tin Win, who presided over the Eucharist, urged the faithful to wake up, "because violence only brings death and destruction, it is always a defeat", and he made a heartfelt appeal "to all armed groups and actors involved in the conflict to lay down their weapons and take a path of peace and reconciliation". He then entrusted Father Donald, his family and the entire community present to the loving hands of the Virgin Mary: "May Our Lady accompany him to paradise and protect all under her mantle, giving comfort and hope," said the Archbishop.
Faced with civil war, violence and displacement, schools are closed, there are no teachers and only informal classes given voluntarily by priests, religious and catechists ensure a minimum level of continuity in the education of children and young people.

The area is controlled by the People's Defence Force (PDF), which is fighting against the military junta. The leadership of these forces has been asked to investigate the armed groups that attacked and murdered the priest. The militias, meanwhile, have arrested ten men from the village of Kan Gyi Taw, where Father Donald was murdered. The People's Defense Forces, according to Fides sources, are themselves interested in identifying and punishing the culprits and have transferred those arrested to a court set up by the People's Defense Force in the areas currently defined as "liberated areas", that is, not under the control of the Burmese government. Source: Combined reports from Agenzia Fides, 17/2/2025)