St. Augustine, Fla., Apr 21, 2016 / 06:24 am (CNA).- A Florida priest who went missing last week has been lauded by his diocese as a humble and generous servant after his remains were found in Georgia on April 18.
“He always saw the good in people he served reminding them that God created them for greatness with a good and noble purpose for others,” Bishop Felipe J. Estévez of St. Augustine said April 19.
“While his life was taken from us tragically on Sunday, April 10 – the day of his disappearance – it is important that we remember how he lived his life in selfless love for others,” the bishop said.
Fr. Rene Wayne Robert, 71, was last seen Sunday, April 10. Parishioners grew concerned when he didn’t show up for a funeral service. Police received a request for a welfare check on April 12. After they failed to locate the priest, a missing persons investigation was launched.
The priest’s remains were found April 18 after Steven Murray, 28, the suspect in the case, directed investigators to his body in a rural area south of Augusta, Georgia. Murray was arrested early April 14 after police spotted him in Fr. Robert’s car speeding through a construction zone and later crashed it into a tree in Aiken, South Carolina.
Police said that Murray had been recently released from prison and was receiving help from Fr. Robert.
Although Fr. Robert’s body was not formally identified by the morgue, Sheriff David Shoar of the St. John’s County confirmed that the priest clearly “was the victim of homicidal violence.” Murray will be charged in Georgia with first degree murder.
“My brother died doing what he loved: helping people,” Debbie Bedard, Fr. Robert’s sister told Action News Jacksonville. “And if it wasn't for the sheriff's department, all the agencies, they wouldn't have found my brother, and I thank God that they did so we can take him home.”
Fr. Robert served as the chaplain at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind. He was known for his service in prisons and homeless ministries.
Bishop Estévez asked for prayers for Fr. Robert as well as the man who is believed to have taken his life.
“In this Year of Mercy, let us pray that our loving Lord will pour his merciful love upon the troubled soul of the one who took his life. And may Jesus Christ grant eternal rest to Father Rene and peace for his family and our community who suffer his loss, yet trust in the Good Shepherd’s care for all.”
Article Archive
Florida diocese mourns loss of priest in apparent murder
Related Articles • More Articles
A Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish procession honoring the patroness of Cuba on Sept. 7, 2023. / Credit: Sacred Heart of Jesus parish in Havana, CubaACI Prensa Staff, Mar 28, 2024 / 16:00 pm (CNA).The regime of President Miguel Díaz-Canel in Cuba has prohibited several Holy Week processions in different cities of the country, including the El Vedado area of Havana as well as in Bayamo, a town that was the scene of major protests earlier this month.Last week, ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, reported on the prohibition of processions in the Diocese of the Most Holy Savior located in the Bayamo-Manzanillo area in the province of Granma, due to the regime's fear that new protests would break out. The prohibition has been extended to the capital, Havana, according to a Catholic priest.In a March 25 Facebook post, Father Lester Zayas, pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in the El Vedado business district of Havana, reported that the day before he had been notifie...
The Catholic faithful gathered in the Cenacle in Jerusalem for the Mass of the Lord's Supper that the Franciscan friars celebrated on Holy Thursday, March 28, 2024. The Cenacle is at the center of strong tensions and disputes regarding ownership and rights of access and celebration. An ancient tradition places King David's tomb here and over the centuries Jews and Muslims have leveraged this to first expel the Franciscans and then to prevent Christian worship, which they deemed sacrilegious. / Credit: Marinella BandiniJerusalem, Mar 28, 2024 / 17:15 pm (CNA).On Holy Thursday, the doors of the Cenacle in Jerusalem were opened to welcome the Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land. In this "Upper Room," called the Cenacle in the Holy Land, Jesus had his Last Supper, washed his apostles' feet, and instituted the Eucharist. It was here that the Franciscans celebrated the Mass of the Lord's Supper, reenacting those same gestures. (At the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher,...
The Oregon State Capitol in Salem. / Credit: Zack Frank/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 28, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is reporting a significant rise in assisted suicide prescriptions and deaths in the state, a move that comes after authorities in 2022 began allowing out-of-state residents to access the lethal services.Since the state's passage of the "Death with Dignity Act" in 1997, assisted suicide numbers have been generally rising there, with a markedly sharp uptick since 2013. OHA on March 20 released its 2023 assisted suicide data summary that reported a considerable increase in suicide prescriptions in 2023. The study found that assisted suicide prescriptions in the state rose from 433 in 2022 to 560 last year.Of those 560 prescriptions, 367 people are known to have died from ingesting the suicide "medications." This is up from the 304 who died from assisted suicide drugs in Oregon in 2022.Over half, or 56%, of the assisted ...