American Priest Found Dead in Brazil

(Sao Paulo, Brazil) A 72-year-old U.S. Jesuit priest, Ferdinand Azevedo, was found dead Monday at a spiritual retreat near Recife.

According to police inspector Morgana Alves, Azevedo committed suicide or was killed.

Alves was one of the first police officers to enter the room where Azevedo's body was found, in a kneeling position and in an advanced state of decomposition.

Azevedo's left hand was tied behind his back with a cord that went around his waist, she said in a telephone interview. A metal chain was wrapped around his neck. The body showed no signs of violence and nothing was stolen from Azevedo's room. Authorities are conducting an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

"At this stage, we cannot rule out anything," Alves said. "Suicide is a possibility, but so is homicide."

Azevedo had been teaching history at the Catholic University of Pernambuco for 35 years.