An Oklahoma accused of murdering a priest is reportedly a Trump supporter who wrote letters about wanting to “make church great again”.
Gary Hermesch, 66, has been charged with first-degree murder in connection to the fatal shooting of Father Arul Carasala, 57, found with gunshot wounds outside the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Seneca, Kansas, last week.
It has now emerged that years before the attack, Hermesch reportedly penned several letters to the editor of the Seneca-based newspaper The Courier-Tribune in praise of the president.
“Let’s not sweat the small stuff, though, maybe if we just follow Donald Trump’s example we’ll ‘make the Church great again,’” he wrote. “So why are things headed south like a runaway freight train? Simple. The faith is not being taught. Now is that equality and tolerance of other religions, or what?”
In another letter, published the day former President Joe Biden was inaugurated on January 20, 2021, Hermesch reportedly wrote: “So, now in this world of this strange new version of ‘Catholicism’, we get a capitulating weak puppy like Joe Biden.”
Other letters talk about a “strange new version” of Catholicism and that the Vatican is currently “fake” and that it has been infiltrated, according to KSNT.
The defendant is believed to have written several letters to the newspaper with at least six of them between January 2021 and March 2024, according to Law & Crime. Father Carasala nor the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church were ever mentioned.
Police responded to a call at the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church just before 3 p.m. Thursday to find Father Carasala outside with gunshot wounds, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Kris Anderson, the parish’s religious education director, told the Associated Press that the priest was shot three times.
Paramedics transported him to the Nemaha Valley Community Hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries. Police have not detailed a possible motive in the case.
Carasala became the church’s pastor in 2011, two months after obtaining U.S. citizenship. He was first ordained in 1994 for the Diocese of Cuddapah in southeast India. The Indian government granted him Overseas Citizen of India status, meaning he could travel there without a visa.
Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, who leads the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, wrote on Facebook that this “senseless act of violence has left us grieving the loss of a beloved priest, leader, and friend.”
“There is no ongoing threat to the community, but I recognize the pain and shock that such an event brings,” he added.
The local community had been left grieving over the slain priest.
“Heartbreaking,” one Facebook user wrote.
“I am in shock and so saddened by this tragedy,” another wrote. “He presided over my mother’s funeral 1 week ago. He was a faithful servant and he will be missed. May he rest in peace!”
Hermesch is being held at Nemaha County Jail on a $1 million bond, the Nemaha County Attorney’s Office said.