Murcia, Spain, Jun 7, 2011 / 12:02 pm
Bishop Jose Lorca Planes will preside at the funeral Mass for a retired military chaplain who was killed on June 3.
Bishop Lorca Planes expressed hope for a speedy investigation into the motives behind the murder, “which has shaken the entire diocese and especially the city of Cartagena, where he was known and love by many,” in a statement issued by the Diocese of Cartagena in Spain on Friday.
The diocese lamented the circumstances surrounding “the sad and tragic” death of the retired military chaplain.
The body of the priest who helped at a local parish was discovered at his residence. Police said the priest may have been the victim of a burglary. He died from a blow to the head.
The assailants also left the priest's elderly handicapped sister bound and gagged.
The bishop urged that the “priests, religious and faithful commend his soul to Our Lord and pray that the faith of his family members be strengthened.”
It would be the second murder of a priest in four years in Spain, after a Romanian couple beat a priest to death with a hammer in 2007 in the city of Murcia.
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