Italian priest kidnapped
Fr Giuseppe Pierantoni, SCJ, 44, was kidnapped
Posted: 1:04 AM (Manila Time)
October 18, 2001
By Hernan P. de la Cruz
Inquirer News Service
PAGADIAN CITY. About 10 to 15 heavily armed men in fatigues Wednesday night abducted an Italian priest while he was taking supper in his parish church in the town of Dimataling in Zamboanga del Sur province on the southern Mindanao island, his superiors reported. Zamboanga del Sur Bishop Zacarias Jimenez identified the victim as Father Giuseppi Piarantoni, SCJ, of the Priests of the Sacred Heart. "He was snatched by heavily armed men," Jimenez told reporters.
"We have no definite news about who they were,'' said Father Gerry Sheehy, Piarantoni's superior who is based in Manila. "The men took him away in a twin-engine boat,'' Father Sheehy told the INQUIRER.
The bishop said Father Piarantoni was seized around 7:25 p.m. inside his parish church, Our Lady of Fatima Dimataling. He had just finished saying mass and was having dinner when the unidentified men barged in. Father Piarantoni has been the parish priest of the coastal town of Dimataling in the western part of the province for more than three years. Forty percent of the town's residents are Muslims.
Father Sheehy told the INQUIRER that the 44 year-old Piarantoni, a native of Bologna, has been in Mindanao for the past 10 years. Samson Ubay-Ubay, acting provincial police chief, said policemen from the 904th Mobile Group Company and soldiers of the 55th Infantry Battalion had been dispatched to track down the abductors. Authorities believed that the suspects used the Illana Bay as escape route. Ubay-Ubay and Jimenez would not speculate on the identities of the kidnappers.
On nearby Basilan Island, the Abu Sayyaf bandit group is holding nine Filipino hostages and an American Christian missionary couple, Martin and Gracia Burnham, and nine Filipino hostages. Missionaries and businessmen are often targets of armed gangs in Mindanao. In September, Irish priest Father Rufus Halley was ambushed by gunmen believed to be rogue members of the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the town of Malabang in Cotabato province.
In the Sulu islands, American missionary Charles Walton and several Spanish nuns were abducted by Abu Sayyaf rebels in the early 1990s. Suspected MILF rebels kidnapped Irish priest Desmond Hartford in 1997 and Italian priest Luciano Benadetti in 1998 in Mindanao.
Official notice from Rome
The Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (SCJs) were informed today, October 17, 2001, that at approximately 19.00 hours, Philippine time, Father Giuseppe Pierantoni, a 44 year old Italian SCJ missionary, was kidnapped by a group of approximately 15 persons. He was abducted from the Parish Our Lady of Fatima in Dimataling, the province of Zamboanga del Sur, on the island of Mindanao. Fr. Pierantoni had just finished celebrating Mass and had re-entered the rectory. The armed kidnappers took him by force and escaped by crossing the Bay of Illana in a speedboat.
Father Janusz Burzawa, SCJ, originally from Poland, returned to the house later that evening and was informed of the events by an eyewitness.
Father Giuseppe Pierantoni was born in Bologna on January 24,1957. He made his first profession of vows on September 27, 1981, and was ordained a priest on September 19, 1987. He began his work in the Philippines in December of 1991.
The Priests of the Sacred Heart began their Philippine Mission on May 17, 1989.
P. Virginio D. Bressanelli scj
Superior General
Statement from the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in the Philippines on the kidnapping of Fr. Giuseppe Pierantoni, SCJ
October 18, 2001
Yesterday, October 17, 2001, at approximately 7.25 PM, Fr Giuseppe Pierantoni, SCJ, 44, was kidnapped by 10 to 15 heavily armed men from his rectory in Dimataling, Zamboanga del Sur, Mindanao. He had just finished celebrating Mass for the local people and was having his supper in the rectory at the time. Fr. Beppe, as he is known, has been working in Mindanao for over 10 years. His first assignment was in the parish of Margosatubig, Zamboanga del Sur, followed by Bacolod, Lanao del Norte and then for the last 3 years in Dimataling, along with Fr. Janusz Burzawa, SCJ.
Fr. Beppe is a very quiet and gentle man who is very serious about his commitment to the people wherever he is assigned. In particular he shows special concern for each person as an individual and is always ready to listen and to help. He has always been assigned to parishes where there has been a strong Muslim presence but we have always experienced good relations with Muslims and have always felt welcome.
We, the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, are very sad and worried about the situation of our brother priest. We plead with those who have taken him to please release him unharmed as quickly as possible. We are calling on the goodness of your humanity. By your actions you are bringing pain to many people, not least his mother, father and sister who are in Italy. You are bringing shame on the Filipino people, both Muslim and Christian, who are known for their kindness and hospitality towards foreigners. Fr. Beppe has never harmed anyone we cannot understand why you have done this to him.
We do not know why you have kidnapped a priest, especially as the Church in the Philippines and particularly in Pagadian has been very active in seeking peace and justice for all members of society, whatever their religion or tribe. We ask you to look into your hearts and see if you cannot find some speck of the greatness and mercy of the God.
We are grateful to all those in the Philippines, especially in the diocese of Pagadian who are working so hard to resolve this situation. We pray that God will help soften the hearts of those people who have kidnapped Fr. Beppe that they may turn from violence and redirect their energies towards building a community of peace and justice for all the people of Mindanao, according to the will of God.
Fr. Jerry Sheehy, SCJ
Superior
SCJ COMMUNITIES IN THE PHILIPPINES
Dimataling, in the diocese Pagadian: 1 parish
Margosatubig, in the Prelatura of Ipil: 1 parish
Kumalarang, in the Prelatura of Ipil : 1 parish
Bacolod, in the diocese of Iligan: 1 parish
Cagayan de Oro, in the diocese of Cagayan de Oro: Formation house
Manila, in the diocese of Manila: Community house and novitiate
