Archdiocese Local

Rural Kansas parish holds rosary and Mass for beloved priest tragically killed by gunman

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann drove to Seneca following the news that Father Arul Carasala, pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul Parish there, was fatally shot on April 3. The archbishop celebrated a Mass that evening and was joined by multiple priests from the archdiocese. LEAVEN PHOTO BY JAY SOLDNER

“It takes a lot to be a priest today. It requires heroic love. And it’s beautiful to see so many of our priests here on a moment’s notice. It shows how important [Father Arul] was.”

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann

by Marc and Julie Anderson
mjanderson@theleaven.org

SENECA — Hundreds of people packed Sts. Peter and Paul Church here in this small rural community of about 2,100 the evening of April 3 to pray for and mourn their beloved pastor and friend, Father Arul Carasala, 57, who was shot sometime between 2 and 3 p.m. at the parish rectory. Transported to a local hospital, he died there as a result of his wounds.

Although he has not yet been formally charged as of this writing, Gary Hermesch, 66, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was arrested and booked into the Nemaha County jail for first-degree murder in connection with the priest’s death, according to a statement released by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. The investigation is ongoing.

Nemaha County Sheriff Richard Vernon takes a call in an area outside Sts. Peter and Paul lined with police tape following the shooting of the parish’s pastor, Father Arul Carasala. LEAVEN PHOTO BY JAY SOLDNER

In the meantime, people from the parish and nearby communities of Corning, Kelly, Centralia, Wetmore, Sabetha, Wetmore, Blue Rapids and other towns came together for a prayer vigil consisting of a rosary, the chaplet of Divine Mercy and an evening Mass celebrated by Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, and concelebrated by eight priests from throughout the deanery.

During his brief remarks after leading the rosary and chaplet of Divine Mercy, Father Joel Haug — pastor of Sacred Heart in Sabetha, St. James in Wetmore and St. Augustine in Fidelity — told those gathered, “These are the moments we really need to be there for each other.”

Giving the congregation “permission to cry,” he also instructed everyone to check on one another in the coming days, weeks and months and to “hug each other” as the parish and northeast Kansas mourn the loss. Father Haug also reminded everyone that Christians are “distinguished by our love for our enemies” and that no one should let “anger, bitterness, or resentment grow in our hearts” and that everyone should practice forgiveness and love.

Father Joel Haug leads parishioners in the rosary at Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Seneca the evening of April 3 following the fatal shooting of Father Arul Carasala, the parish’s pastor. LEAVEN PHOTO BY JAY SOLDNER

Of Father Carasala, Father Haug said to the crowd, “He loves you all. He will continue to love you.”

In his homily, the archbishop said, “There really are no words for an occasion like this. I was just admiring the beauty of this church, which Father Arul loved and rallied you to renew it . . . and restore it to its original beauty and beyond.”

“But the real beauty is what’s in the pews tonight,” he continued. “This is what the church building is for. It’s to help us to come and encounter God here.” 

“It takes a lot to be a priest today,” said the archbishop. “It requires heroic love. And it’s beautiful to see so many of our priests here on a moment’s notice. It shows how important [Father Arul] was. Because he wasn’t just the pastor here. He was the dean of this deanery. I used to kid him that he was the ‘bishop of Seneca.’”

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann delivers a homily at the April 3 Mass at Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Seneca following the fatal shooting of the parish’s pastor, Father Arul Carasala. LEAVEN PHOTO BY JAY SOLDNER

It was important, the archbishop added, not to lose sight of Father Arul’s life.

“We don’t want this senseless act of violence to rob us of this knowledge of God’s love for us,” said Archbishop Naumann. “And that it’s the Gospel that we proclaim today from St. Luke which captures that paschal mystery — the death of Jesus and the rising of Jesus. And it’s because of this as Christians we’re never without hope. That this world we know, we’re just passing through it. It’s not our final destination. And this was the truth of the Gospel of Jesus that Father Arul proclaimed, that he gave his life for.

“We ask the Lord tonight to console our hearts, to give us renewed love for him and the gift of our Catholic faith. And let us pray that we can respond to this terrible tragedy as an invitation to grow deeper in following Jesus Our Lord. He forgave from the cross those who crucified him. He prayed for them to his Father and said, ‘Forgive them, they know not what they do.’

“So, we pray tonight. We pray for all of you. We pray for all those that mourn Father Arul in India and here, for all whose hearts are hurting, that the Lord will bring consolation.”

“But we pray also for the perpetrator, that the Lord will touch his heart as well,” concluded the archbishop. “We pray that we respond to this tragedy not with violence for violence but let us respond in the way that Jesus has revealed to us — with love and with mercy.”

To view more photos from the rosary and Mass, click here, and follow us on Facebook for continuous updates.

About the author

Marc & Julie Anderson

Freelancers Marc and Julie Anderson are long-time contributors to the Leaven. Married in 1996, for several years the high school sweethearts edited The Crown, the former newspaper of Christ the King Parish in Topeka which Julie has attended since its founding in 1977. In 2000, the Leaven offered the couple their first assignment. Since then, the Andersons’ work has also been featured in a variety of other Catholic and prolife media outlets. The couple has received numerous journalism awards from the Knights of Columbus, National Right to Life and the Catholic Press Association including three for their work on “Think It’s Not Happening Near You? Think Again,” a piece about human trafficking. A lifelong Catholic, Julie graduated from Most Pure Heart of Mary Grade School and Hayden Catholic High School in Topeka. Marc was received into the Catholic Church in 1993 at St. Paul Parish – Newman Center at Wichita State University. The two hold degrees from Washburn University in Topeka. Their only son, William James, was stillborn in 1997.

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