A Catholic priest passed away in Kansas after being contended his church’s rectory in an occurrence a fellow priest informed Fox News Digital has actually left his neighborhood in a “state of shock.”
Gary Hermesch, 66, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was nabbed Thursday mid-day complying with the strike on Father Arul Carasala, 57, at the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Seneca, according to the Kansas Bureau ofInvestigation Hermesch was apprehended on uncertainty of first-degree murder.
“We’re all just still in a state of shock. I mean, this is small-town America. And Father Arul was such a beloved pastor in Seneca, Kansas. He’s been a pastor there for over 13 years,” Father Brian Schieber, a Vicar General for the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, informed Fox News Digital.
“A good shepherd knows his people by name, and Father Arul knew everybody. He, over these years, baptized so many people, did so many weddings, funerals, he was such a good confessor and present to people who were sick, had such pastoral wisdom, he is really beloved by everybody,” Schieber included.
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Father Arul Carasala, a priest at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Seneca, Kan., was fatally fired on Thursday, April 3, 2025. ( AP/The Leaven)
Schieber defined the capturing as a “senseless act of violence.”
“We have no idea what the motive for this was. And, you know, we’re really praying for the person that killed Father Arul as well. And thank you all for your prayers,” he claimed.
Deputies from the Nemaha County Sheriff’s Office and policemans from the Seneca Police Department reacted to a 911 telephone call “reporting shots fired at the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church rectory” around 3 p.m. regional time Thursday, the KBI claimed.
When they showed up, they found Carasala “outside the residence suffering from gunshot wounds,” it included.
Archbishop Joseph Naumann leads a mass on Thursday, April 3, at the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Seneca, complying with the fatality of Carasala. (Jay Soldner/The Leaven)
“Seneca EMS arrived and transported Father Carasala to the Nemaha Valley Community Hospital. Despite life-saving measures, he died at the hospital from his injuries,” the KBI additionally claimed in a declaration.
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A mass was held at Carasala’s church Thursday evening following the capturing.
Gary Hermesch was nabbed in link to the capturing. (Nemaha County Sheriff’s Office)
“Father Arul was a friend to me and a great priest,” Archbishop Joseph Naumann wrote on Facebook Friday after leading the mass. “I shared in my homily that being a priest today requires heroic love. That quality was evident in Father Arul, who left India to come to the heartland of America and serve the people of the Catholic Church in northeast Kansas.”
“While we continue to mourn the loss of Father Arul, I pray that we will not lose hope. God is with us in our adversity,” Naumann included. “He can bring good out of evil. He can bring life out of death. Let us draw closer to Jesus during this time of sorrow and ask him to console our hearts.”
Archbishop Joseph Naumann leads a mass at the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church on Thursday evening. (Jay Soldner/The Leaven)
Schieber informed Fox News Digital that “we are a small archdiocese, so we have about 150 priests and we all know each other really well.
“We’re like bros to every various other. And Father Arul was actually practical to me directly and will certainly be very much missed out on,” he claimed.
The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas claimed “Father Arul was a loyal clergyman that devoutly offered our archdiocese for greater than 20 years.
Carasala was located Thursday mid-day struggling with gunfire injuries outside the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church rectory, authorities claimed. (Jay Soldner/The Leaven)
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“Ordained in March 1994 in his home Diocese of Cuddapah, India, he ministered at Sts. Peter and Paul… and also served as dean of the Nemaha-Marshall deanery. His deep faith, pastoral care, and generous spirit touched the lives of so many,” it included. “Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.”
