Father Gregoris Transianus Syukur. (Photo– supplied)
By UCA News Reporter
Feb 17 2023
Father Gregoris Syukur killed himself after he was questioned over an alleged affair with a female teacher, local sources say.
The body of a Catholic priest in Indonesia’s Ruteng Diocese was found hanging in his residence on Feb. 16 and police confirmed it as a case of suicide.
The body of Father Gregoris Transianus Syukur was found in his room at St. Klaus Kuwu High School complex in the Christian-majority East Nusa Tenggara province.
“From the results of the initial examination and external post-mortem by the doctor, the cause of the death was because…he hanged himself,” said Yoce Marten, the top police official in Manggarai district, where the school is located.
“There were no signs of violence on the victim’s body,” Marten told reporters in Ruteng on Feb.16
Diocesan sources told UCA News that the priest allegedly ended his life after he was recently summoned by the diocesan authorities to explain his alleged love affair with a female teacher at the school he presided over.
The source further said, “We received information that he was told to resign from priesthood.”
Later, the deceased priest wrote a message on his WhatsApp account, saying, “There is still sky above the sky.”
In a statement, Father Alfonsius Segar, Ruteng Diocese’s vicar-general, said he was “deeply concerned and saddened by this incident.”
Another source said the priest earlier faced allegations of being involved with female students at the diocese-run Saint Paul Indonesia Catholic University, which was earlier a high school.
He was relieved of his duties several years ago, the source added.
“He did come back after going through a corrective period and was given a new assignment,” said the source.
Father Segar, however, did not respond to questions about allegations against the priest.
The priest’s death occurred amid increasing suicide cases in Great Manggarai, comprising three districts of Manggarai, West Manggarai and East Manggarai, which is covered by Ruteng Diocese.
Maria Moe Care Foundation, a counseling group, said up to three teenagers commit suicide every month in the region.
East Manggarai district witnessed three suicide cases last month. In the last incident on Jan. 25, a high school student hanged and killed himself behind his house.
A parishioner in Ruteng Diocese, who requested anonymity, told UCA News that the priest’s suicide poses a challenge to the efforts of the Church to “serve as a moral and social agency” to combat the increasing suicide cases in the region. – UCA News
