A middle-aged man attacked monks at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in eastern Spain. He shouted that he was Jesus Christ and beat the monks with “everything he could get his hands on.” As a result of serious injuries, one of the monks died and three were in hospital.
As Spanish news agency EFE reported on Saturday, a middle-aged man attacked Franciscans from the monastery of the Holy Spirit in Gilet in Valencia province in eastern Spain “with everything he could get his hands on.” He used elements of sculptures and orthopedic canes belonging to monks for beatings.
The attacker broke into the monastery building on Saturday before noon and shouted: “I am Jesus Christ and I will kill you all,” reported the regional website A Punt.
A 76-year-old monk died in hospital as a result of a severe head injury. The attacker also beat four other monks, three of whom, aged 57, 66 and 95, were taken to hospital.
The attacker fled the scene and is wanted by the Spanish gendarmerie.
The small community of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit (Santo Espiritu del Monte) in Gilet consisted of only seven monks. The monastery itself was founded in the early 15th century in the Sierra Calderona mountains.
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