44-year-old priest murdered amid Myanmar civil war

Father Donald Martin Ye Naing Win. | Credit: Courtesy of Archdiocese of Mandalay

Father Donald Martin Ye Naing Win, a 44-year-old diocesan priest of the Archdiocese of Mandalay in Myanmar, was killed Feb. 14 in the midst of the civil war that has plunged the Asian country into a serious humanitarian and human rights crisis.

According to the Vatican agency Fides, the priest’s body was found by some members of the faithful around 6 a.m. local time, “mutilated and disfigured with stab wounds,” on the grounds of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, where the priest worked as a parish priest.

Ye Naing Win was ordained a priest in 2018. He devoted himself to his parishioners with zeal and fidelity, also bringing humanitarian assistance and spiritual consolation to those displaced by the civil war.

The church where he served is in the village of Kan Gyi Taw in the territory of the Shwe Bo district belonging to the Sagaing region. This area, Fides noted, is one of the areas where fighting is frequent between the militiamen of the People’s Defense Forces and the army of the junta that overthrew the government.

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joymercy said:

Does he go straight to heaven?

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From what I’ve been taught, yes. He is considered a martyr.