AMERICA/CUBA - Friday funeral for priest killed in Havana, whose body has been returned to his homeland for burial

Havana (Agenzia Fides) – The body of Spanish priest Mariano Arroyo, killed in the early morning hours this past Monday, was delivered yesterday to the Catholic Church, as preparations are made for a funeral service in the Cathedral of Havana, and today it will be taken by plane to Spain. According to diplomatic and religious sources, Cuban authorities have ended the autopsy and have handed over the 74 year-old priest's remains. It appears he was gagged, handcuffed, stabbed, and partially burned in a bed in the house next to the Church, in the Havana neighborhood of “Regla.”
The Chancellor of the Archdiocese, Monsignor Ramon Suarez Polcari, affirmed this Wednesday in a statement, that Cardinal Jaime Ortega, Archbishop of La Havana, has arranged for a funeral to be held on Friday morning in Havana's Cathedral, as a result of “the extraordinary missionary work, apostolic zeal, and priestly dedication of the deceased.”
“This same day, in the afternoon, the remains of Fr. Mariano Arroyo will be transferred to Spain, for a Christian burial in his native land of Cantabria, in fulfillment of the desire of his family members,” the message adds. The Mass will take place on Friday at 9:30 local time and will be presided by the Cardinal himself.
This is the second Spanish priest assassinated this year in Cuba, as this past February 14, the body of Eduardo de la Fuente (61 years of age), Pastor of Saint Clare Parish, was found stabbed and strangled in the Havana neighborhood of Lawton. Until now, no information has been released from the investigations on the cases, which are similar as “the procedure has been the same: torture, relentlessness,” as it was described by Spanish priest Isidro Hoyos, friend of the victims and pastor in a parish in Alamar, on the outskirts of Havana. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 16/7/2009)