The Monastery of the Holy Spirit in the Spanish province of Valencia was brutally attacked. A 76-year-old Franciscan monk died.
According to the Spanish news agency EFE, a middle-aged man attacked the Franciscans using “everything within his reach.” An attacker, shouting that he was Jesus Christ, broke into the monastery building the day before.
According to witnesses, the criminal hit the brother monks “with a staff from the statue of Bishop St. Lewes”, which is located in the upper monastery”, where the monastic cells are located. He then wielded a broken bottle. As a result, the 76-year-old monk died in hospital due to a serious head injury. Several other people, ranging in age from 57 to 95, were also injured. The attacker fled the scene and has not yet been found by the Spanish gendarmerie.
According to one of the survivors, the attacker did not appear to be under the influence of drugs.
The small community of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Gilles consisted of only seven monks. The monastery itself was founded at the beginning of the 15th century in the Sierra Calderona.