Funeral service taking place Thursday in Seneca for slain Catholic priest
SENECA, Kan. (WIBW) - A funeral service is taking place Thursday morning for a beloved Roman Catholic priest who was fatally shot this past week in Seneca.
A memorial Mass for the Rev. Arul Carasala will take place at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 10, at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, 411 Pioneer St. in Seneca.
Authorities said Carasala, 57, a native of India, was shot and killed on Thursday, April 3, outside the rectory of the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, where he had served as a priest since July 15, 2011.
Carasala previously served at Augustine Catholic Church in Fidelity; Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Sabetha; and St. James Catholic Church in Wetmore.
Officials said Carasala had served in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas for more than 20 years.
The Mass will be streamed on YouTube, and officials said there will be limited seating.
Following the service, Carasala’s body will be will returned to India, where a Funeral Mass will be celebrated at his home parish, Sacred Heart Church in Kilachery Parish in Kilacheri, Tamil Nadu, India.
Meanwhile, Gary Lee Hermesch, 66, of Tulsa, Okla., who was charged in connection with first-degree murder in connection with Carasala’s death, was being held in the Jackson County Jail in Holton for the Nemaha County Sheriff’s Office.
Hermesch previously was being held on a $1 million bond in the Nemaha County Jail before he was transferred to the Jackson County Jail.
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