“He shouted I am Jesus Christ and I will kill the brothers “, before hitting the monks on Saturday in a monastery in southeastern Spain, Brother Angel Ramon told the daily El Pais on Sunday.
A 76-year-old Franciscan monk died Monday from his injuries, two days after an attack by an armed man on a group of brothers at the Santo Espiritu del Monte monastery, located on the heights of Gilet, a village of 3,300 inhabitants. 30 km north of Valencia.
“The attacker, carrying a blunt object, burst into the premises with a violent and provocative attitude,” said the Immaculate Conception of the Franciscan order, the community to which this monastery is attached, in a press release.
At that moment, the brothers were “in their rooms after having shared breakfast”, specifies the press release, which says that the attacker, a “middle-aged” man, “started to walk the corridors of the monastery” .
In a fit of violence, he “injured three of our brothers” before being put to flight by one of the monks, Brother Angel Ramon, who immediately “informed the emergency services”, details the Immaculate Conception of the Franciscan order. Hospitalized “in critical condition”, one of the injured, aged 76, succumbed to his injuries Monday afternoon, a leader of this religious community told AFP, expressing his “deep sadness” .
The assailant arrested
Questioned by the daily El Pais, the religious who made the attacker flee, Brother Angel Ramon, who posts a video of a cooking recipe every Monday, described an apparently “young” man, seeming to be driven mad at the moment. of his intrusion. After claiming that he was going to “kill the brothers”, he grabbed several objects, including “sticks” and “a bottle”, to hit the religious present, he said.
In a press release, the town hall of Gilet indicated that the attacker, who had initially fled into the mountains surrounding the monastery, had been arrested on Sunday morning. Salva Costa, the mayor, explained that at the monastery of Santo Espíritu they had never seen such a situation because it is a place of “spirituality”, a “quiet place” where only seven Franciscans live and where people occasionally come to prepare for exams and spiritual exercises. “It’s an unthinkable thing, here we always have the doors open to everyone (…). So this is something that took us all by surprise,” he said.
According to Spanish media, the attacker is a 46-year-old Spaniard suffering from psychiatric problems and a drug addiction. He should be presented to an investigating judge on Tuesday.
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