The Archbishop of Oklahoma City (United States), Mons. Paul Coakley, has asked the faithful for prayers after a priest of the archdiocese died when he fell down the roof of the sacristy of his parish at the end of last week.
Fr. Linh Bui, pastor of the St. Ann Catholic Church in Elgin, Oklahoma, died after suffering a serious brain injury caused by the fall, according to a communication of the Archbishop of September 19 published on Facebook. Bui was 56 years old.
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“With great sadness announced that Father Linh Bui died this morning because of his wounds,” Coakley wrote.
Before his death, Bui received the sacrament of the anointing of the sick and the apostolic forgiveness, which grants an indulgence for the remission of the temporal penalty to whom he dies in a state of grace.
According to the archbishop, Bui “was surrounded by the family that loved him deeply” when he succumbed to his wounds.
“Please, pray for the eternal rest of his soul,” Coakley wrote. “Funeral arrangements will be announced soon.”
“That his soul and the souls of all the deceased faithful, for the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen,” the archbishop prayed.
According to a Parish Facebook PublicationBui was evacuated in Medflight to the trauma center of the University of Oklahoma after the fall and received surgery immediately. Although “medical teams did everything they could,” the parish said that “the seriousness of their brain injury due to the fall was too severe and neurological interventions could not be performed.”
In addition to brain injury, BUI also suffered thoracic trauma, pulmonary collapse and arterial bleeding. The doctors stabilized their body so that their family could say goodbye and then stopped medical interventions.
A parishioner posted on Facebook that Bui was “one of the most holy people who had the blessing of knowing,” and added: “We got to know him personally and was the friendliest, humble and loving priest. May his soul rest in peace.”
“Another of his last messages for me was to invite others to worship, because he not only wanted us to spend time with the Lord, but also that we took others to him,” another parishioner wrote.
“This was exactly as he lived and what he taught,” he added. “He meant everything for my husband and me, and we will take him forever in our hearts and in the way we walk with Jesus.”
Translated and adapted by the ACI Press team. Originally published in CNA.
Tyler Arnold
Tyler Arnold is a reporter of the National Catholic Register. He previously worked at The Center Square and has published in various media, including The Associated Press, National Review, The American Conservative and The Federalist.