44-year-old priest murdered amid Myanmar civil war

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

ACI Prensa Staff, Feb 19, 2025 / 17:20 pm (CNA).

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 6:00 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. 

“May the blood and sacrifices of countless innocent people, together with that of Fr. Donald Martin, serve as an offering to end the violence that is raging throughout the country,” the Myanmar bishops’ conference said in a statement, signed by their president and archbishop of Yangon, Cardinal Charles Bo.

“Let us take lessons from this heartbreaking tragedy. We call upon all brothers and sisters to wake up and end the violence,” the statement said.

Vatican News reported that ten suspects have been arrested by the militants who control the region.

What is happening in Myanmar?

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is in the midst of a civil war following a military coup in early 2021, in which a junta overthrew the elected government of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who had promised a new democratic era.

The coup sparked widespread resistance by militants of the People’s Defense Forces, mass protests and an escalation of conflict across the country.

The junta has killed thousands of people, detained tens of thousands and bombed hospitals, schools and religious buildings such as the Sacred Heart of Jesus church in Mindat, which was badly damaged by airstrikes on Feb. 6 in Chin state, the only Christian-majority state in Myanmar.

The junta has announced elections for 2025 in which only parties approved by it will be able to participate.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.