Image of Diego Valencia from the campaign for his canonization / Credit: Enraizados
CV NEWS FEED // A diocese in southern Spain has begun receiving requests to promote the canonization process of a sacristan who was murdered by a Muslim extremist in January.
Yassinne Kanjaa attacked two churches in the diocese of Cádiz-Ceuta, in southern Spain, on January 25.
With a machete, Kanjaa destroyed statues and other items at the Church of the Savior. The church’s pastor, Father Antonio Rodríguez attempted to stop Kanjaa, but Kanjaa stabbed him in the neck. Kanjaa fled the scene to attack the second church.
At Our Lady of La Palma, Kanjaa also attacked statues, candles and other objects with the machete. When sacristan Diego Valencia attempted to stop him, Kanjaa attacked him as well.
Valencia fled outside the church, where Kanjaa followed and fatally stabbed him. Valencia was 65 years old and had been a sacristan at the church for 16 years.
Bishop Rafael Zornoza of Cádiz-Ceuta was nearby on a pastoral visit and was able to come to the Church of the Savior shortly after the attack occurred. Rodríguez was hospitalized and died a few months later due to another illness.
The pastor of Our Lady of La Palma, Father Juan José Marina, recently asked Zornoz to open the diocesan phase of Valencia’s canonization process.
The diocese released a statement in January after the attack, stating that Valencia was “much loved in the parish and in the city for his dedication and affability with everyone.”
According to the National Catholic Register, the association Enraizados en Cristo y la Sociedad (Rooted in Christ and Society), which has also been pushing for the diocese to begin the canonization process, said in a statement that “[Valencia’s] murderer ended his life. We will not allow time to end his memory and his extraordinary act of courage, undoubtedly impelled by the Holy Spirit.”
