RICHIE FERNANDO was a 26 year old Filipino Jesuit missionary in Cambodia Cambodia Cambodia
Among Richie’s students was Sarom, a sixteen-year-old boy who was a victim of a landmine. He wanted to finish his studies there but he was asked to leave by the school authorities for his disruptive attitude. According to Richie, Sarom was tricky but he still had a place for him in his heart.
On October 17, 1996, Sarom came to the school for a meeting. Angered, he suddenly reached into a bag he was carrying, pulled out a grenade, and began to move towards a classroom full of students; the windows of the room were barred, leaving the students no escape. Richie Fernando came up behind Sarom and grabbed him. Sarom tried to let Richie go, but the missionary held on to him. Sarom accidentally dropped the grenade behind Richie, and in a flash, Richie was dead. The missionary had protected Sarom and the other students from the violence that was about to come.
Four days before he died, Richie wrote to a friend in the
Shocked by what he had caused, Sarom sat in his jail cell and mourned too. In March 1997, Mr. and Mrs. Fernando wrote to
The body of ichie Fernando is buried at he Sacred Heart Cemetery in Novaliches, Quezon City
At a retreat earlier in 1996, he wrote:
I wish when I die, that people remember not how great, powerful, or talented I was,
but that I served and spoke for the truth. I gave witness to what is right. I was sincere with all my words and actions. In other words, I loved and followed Christ.
but that I served and spoke for the truth. I gave witness to what is right. I was sincere with all my words and actions. In other words, I loved and followed Christ.
