Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Valencia (Agenzia Fides) - In Cehegín, a city in the province of Murcia (Spain), the funeral of Brother Juan Antonio Llorente, a Franciscan of the Immaculate, was celebrated. He was killed in the monastery where he lived, in Gilet, last Saturday.
On November 9, the peace of the place was interrupted when a man who, armed with a stick and a glass bottle, broke into the monastery of Santo Espíritu del Monte in Gilet, a city near Valencia. The man, who suffers from mental problems, according to the reconstruction carried out by the police, burst into the monastery shouting "I am Jesus Christ" and, with a stick and a glass bottle in his hand, began to beat all the brothers he found along his path.
Several Franciscans were injured and all were taken to the hospital in Valencia. It was there that after two days (and not on the same day of the attack as some media outlets mistakenly reported), Brother Juan Antonio Llorente, 76, died from the violent blows he had received to the head. The Franciscan Province announced this on November 11 in a note: "Unfortunately, one of our injured brothers, taken to hospital in critical condition, died today, Monday, due to head injuries. The Franciscan Province, his family and friends deplore this irreparable loss."
The 46-year-old attacker, who has a history of gender-based violence, was arrested by the National Police on Sunday, November 10, and is now under investigation. The other brothers who were attacked have all left the hospital, with the exception of a 95-year-old who remains hospitalized for tests, but his condition is stable and not life-threatening.
Yesterday, the body of Brother Juan Antonio Llorente was transported from Valencia to Cehegín, his hometown, where he was laid to rest throughout the afternoon and evening in the chapel of the Virgen de las Maravillas, near the road that leads to the city cemetery. In the morning, in a private ceremony, the solemn funeral was held in the convent of San Esteban, followed by burial in the family chapel. (F.B.) (Agenzia Fides, 14/11/2024)
