Catholic priest gunned down in Arizona

In a horrifying act as shocking as it was brutal, an Arizona priest was shot dead and another was critically injured during a break in at a Catholic church in Phoenix Arizona.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Father Kenneth Walker, the 28-year-old associate pastor at the Mother of Mercy Mission was killed during the evening of June 11, said a statement from The Diocese of Phoenix.

These two men truly lived in the love of Christ, please pray for them and those affected by this awful tragedy.

Father Joseph Terra was the other pastor involved in the incident and the 56-year-old is in critical but stable condition at a hospital receiving treatment from the attack, although he was not shot or stabbed.

The attack took place at nine p.m. said Phoenix Police Department spokesman Steve Martos.

"Both victims are priests and the crime occurred in a living quarter attached to the church," he said.

Father Terra was able to call 911 during the attack, and police are waiting to speak to him.

"We are stunned and deeply saddened to learn of the tragic assault perpetrated last night against Fr. Joseph Terra and Fr. Kenneth Walker, two religious order priests who belong to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter," said a statement from the Archdiocese.

Parishioners gathered in the early hours of June 12 to pray at the Mother of Mercy Mission Church.

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