India, April 15 -- Miryiam ( name changed) spoke in a steely voice, but with passion as tears welled in her eyes, " Yes, they killed him! But for me, Abouna Frans will never die!" Those words of a young lady are a fitting tribute to a person who meant so much to her and to many others. Her profound sentiments echo the feelings of hundreds of others who were impacted by Abouna Frans. "I went for retreats with him. He listened to my pain and brokenness; when I cried, he cried too. He was truly a Father to me!" She goes on and on narrating one incident after another - each time unfolding the holiness, the humaneness, the sensitivity and the grace that were the hallmarks of a modern day saint.
Fr. Frans Van Der Lugt was brutally gunned down in...