Italian PIME Missionary Priest Receives Bullet Wounds from ISIS Assailants in Bangladesh

Father Piero Parolari, PIME, after initial surgery in Dinajpur, being placed in the helicopter for flying him to Dhaka for further treatment 

Photo courtesy: asianews.it/

Several years ago Father Piero Parolari, PIME, is being greeted by school children in a parish in Bangladesh

Photo courtesy: resegoneonline.it/

Three gunmen on a motorcycle shot at Father Piero Parolari, 64, a PIME (Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions) missionary bicycling his way to his work at St. Vincent Hospital in Dinajpur, and wounded him seriously on November 18. Initially the identity of the assailants was not known, but later the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the shooting.

Father Parolari, a missionary and a medical doctor, has been working among the poor in Bangladesh since 1985.

With gun-shot wounds on his neck, the priest underwent a surgery in Dinajpur Medical College Hospital and later he was transferred by helicopter to the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka further treatment.

Christians, Muslims, and Hindus staged several protest gatherings in different parts of Bangladesh condemning the attack and asked the Government for seeking out the culprits and making them to face justice. 

The UCANews reports, "Over the past two weeks, at least seven Protestants have received death threats in the form of text messages. It comes after violent attacks on a Catholic priest and a Protestant minister. Christian leaders say the attacks and death threats are interlinked."

The Italian PIME missionaries have been working in the north and north-west region of Bangladesh for more than 150 years. During the Bangladesh War of Independence in 1971, they gave shelter and food to many Muslim, Hindu, Christian and other internal refugees in their mission and school compounds, and after independence, they did massive relief and rehabilitation work among returning Bangladeshi refugees from camps in India. 

For more details on the attack on Father Parolari, please read the following:

• PIME missionary targeted in Dinajpur gun attack (asianews.it)
• Italian priest shot in northern Bangladesh (ucanews.com)
• Itlian priest attacked in Bangladesh, in critical condition (Vatican Radio)
• Italian priest shot in Bangladesh by gunmen (The Guardian, U.K.) 
• Italian priest Piero Parolari attacked in Bangladesh (BBC, U.K.)
• Gunmen on motorbike shoot Italian priest in latest attack on foreigners in Bangladesh (japantimes.com)
• Italian priest shot in Bangladesh (bdnews24.com)
• ISIS claims responsibility for shooting Italian priest in Bangladesh (ibtimes.com.au)
• Islamic State claims responsibility for shooting priest (ucanews.com)
• ISIS claims attack on Italian priest in Bangladesh (The Times of India)
• Islamic State Claims Attack on Italian priest in Bangladesh (ndtv.com) 
• IS claims attack on Italian priest in Bangladesh (www.news.va)
• Bangladeshi Christians, Muslims and Hindus demand justice for Fr. Parolari (asianews.it) 
• Bangladesh Christians protest against attacks on priests (ucanews.com) 
• A dozen priests get death threat (The Daily Star, Dhaka)
• Priests under threat (Editorial of The Daily Star, Dhaka)
• Christians feeling insecure after attacks on priests (The Daily Star, Dhaka) 
• Christians concerned about safety (Dhaka Tribune, Dhaka)
• Killings, Death Threats Feed Climate of Fear in Bangladesh (voanews.com)
• 10 priests get death threat in Rangpur (Dhaka Tribune, Dhaka)
• 19 noted personalities receive death threat (Dhaka Tribune, Dhaka)
• Two more priests of a church in Khulna receive death threat (bdnews24.com, Dhaka) 
• Three seriously hurt after Catholic family attacked in Dhaka home (ucanews.com)
• Arrest attackers immediately -- Demands Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (The Daily Star, Dhaka) 
• Dr. Mizan finds link between war crimes trial and recent incidents (in Bangladesh) (unb.com.bd) 

(Updated on December 11, 2015)