Priest to pay for funeral of teen killed in Lexington mass shooting
Father Jim Sichko says act is one of mercy for grieving family
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Father Jim Sichko is paying for the funeral of Di’Zhon Robertson, the 16-year-old killed over the weekend in a Lexington mass shooting.
The priest said on social media Monday that he spoke with Robertson’s mother and assured her that funeral home and cemetery expenses would be taken care of.
Sichko said as a Papal Missionary of Mercy, one of the acts of mercy is to honor someone who has passed away.
He said his calling is to offer help to the grieving family and take some of the burden off of them.
As part of his ministry, Sichko has peformed acts of mercy in all 50 U.S. States and travels nearly 300 days a year doing so.
Sichko said there needs to be a change, not just in the Lexington community but all over the world, regarding violence.
“If you take away our skin, and you take away our nationalities, and if you take away our beliefs, you would find that we are all similar in our skeletal systems. We are all brothers and sisters and why can’t we just get along? Why is there this violence? Why is there this hate?” Sichko said.
Sichko said the issue the entire world has to address is respecting the value of life.
Robertson’s funeral is set for Aug. 24.
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