Street in Spanish town to be dedicated to priest slain in Brazil

Toledo, Spain, Mar 24, 2009 / 13:45 pm

The town of Pelahustan, Spain held a ceremony on Monday to announce the  dedication of a street to Father Ramiro Ludena, who was slain in Brazil.

The mayor of Pelahustan, Ramon Garcia-Soto, told Europa Press that although the idea still needs to be approved by the town council, the street bearing the priests name could be the one that runs behind the city’s main church.  Last Saturday the city also called for three days of mourning, which concluded this past Monday. Flags were flown at half-mast throughout the priest’s hometown.

Some 200 residents gathered to pay to homage to Father Ludena, who spent thirty years working with the poor in Brazil and was laid to rest there.

Investigations continue in Brazil, where police in Recife have detained a 15 year-old suspect in the death of the 64 year-old priest, who was gunned down last Thursday evening.

Two nuns who were with the priest in his car when the incident took place helped police to identify the suspect.  He was shot in the arm as they were leaving the house of a friend where they had gone to have dinner. He died later at a local hospital.