Hispanic Bishop Was Attacked While Celebrating Mass

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

A religious of Hispanic origin from New Jersey was attacked last weekend during mass in honor of the disappeared Puerto Rican baseball player Roberto Clemente.

The attacker, a man wearing a white cassock, approached the altar to attack the Rev. Manuel A. Cruz, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey. After receiving a fist to the face and being knocked to the ground, the priest fell on the altar. The incident can be seen in a video obtained by the local news site TAPintoNewark.net.

Officers from the Essex County Sheriff's Office rushed to the altar and handcuffed the assailant. About 75 people witnessed the attack, as reported by Fox News.

Mass was celebrated to commemorate the life of Clemente, who died in a plane crash in 1972 while traveling to Nicaragua to deliver aid to the victims of the devastating earthquake that struck near Managua on December 23 of that year.

"We are praying for Bishop Cruz," said Mass organizer Luis Quintana, Newark city councilman. "It is difficult to understand what it would cause someone to harm priests within the sanctity of a church."

The priest was rushed to a nearby hospital where a pair of stitches were placed on his lip. The assailant, identified as Charles Miller, 48, was arrested on the assault charge. The motive for the attack has not yet been determined, so the investigation continues.