Irish priest brutally murdered in his South African home

AN elderly Irish missionary parish priest was brutally murdered when he challenged burglars in his South African home.

Fr Manus Campbell, 70, a native of Belfast and a member of the Irish Franciscan Order, had worked in South Africa for 45 years. On Tuesday night, he was tied up, beaten around the head and strangled.

His colleague, Fr Bernard Hall, also a member of Franciscans, said Fr Campbell was watching television when the burglars climbed up the drainpipe and entered the building through a balcony door. “He must have heard them. They attacked him with a blunt instrument. They must have knocked him out and then tied him up.”