On Saturday, April 28, 2018, Columban Fr Gerard Desmond, aged 74 was attacked by three armed men as he arrived at his residence in the Parish of Christ the Liberator, in the slum district of San Juan de Lurigancho, outside of Lima, Peru.
Preparing to go on holidays, Fr Gerard had driven to the bank to withdraw money to pay bills and salaries in the parish before he left.
He had withdrawn the equivalent of $2,000.00 (US) from the local bank.
He drove back to his parish and as he got out of his car to open the gate, a car stopped behind him, and three men, two with guns drawn, demanded the money that he had withdrawn.
Fr Gerard refused to hand it over so they hit him with the revolver butt on the head and shot him in both legs above the knee.
Luckily the bullets went through the fleshy part of his thighs and hit no bones or arteries and lodged in the presbytery door.
A man working on a building site nearby, apparently an ex-policeman from Venezuela, saw what happened, rushed to his aid, bandaged his wounds and drove him to the nearest hospital.
Fr Gerard got nine stitches in the side of his head and several more on the leg wounds, but was released from hospital on May 1 and is apparently none the worse for what happened.
Fr Gerry Desmond grew up in Swords, Co. Dublin. He was educated at the O’Connell Schools in Dublin and entered St Columbans Seminary in Dalgan in 1963.
He was ordained priest in 1969 and assigned to Korea and to the diocese of Chuncheon, where he served from 1974-1979. He then worked in Canada from 1979-1987, and has served in various parishes in Lima, Peru, since then.
Fr Gerry has provided pastoral aid to some of Lima's poorest communities for over a decade. His parish and house is in the slum district of San Juan de Lurigancho where he opened a primary school in 2011, as well as a community centre for youths and adults. He also campaigned for better facilities in the local chapels, including pews, windows, music equipment and PA systems.
Relieved parishioners posted on social media their delight that Fr Gerry survived the attack. One said: "God listened to our prayers, our beloved priest is out of danger - we're very happy."
Columban Fr Cyril Lovett, Communications Office, St Columban’s, Navan, Co Meath, Ireland.
Related links
- Read more from The Far East, June 2018
