Page 2, 6th May 1983
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Priest who tried to kill the Pope is gaoled for six years
FR JUAN Fernandez Krohn, the illicitly ordained Spanish priest who attempted to assassinate the Pope last May, was sentenced by a Portugese court this week to a total of six and a half years in prison.
Fr Krohn, 33, who was ordained by suspended Archbishop Lefebvre in 1978 but later broke with the Archbishop's followers, had undergone psychiatric tests on the orders of the court and was pronounced fit to stand trial.
The ultra-conservative priest attempted to kill the Pope with a bayonet on May 12, 1982, at the end of an evening prayer service in Fatima, Portugal. Police say he ran towards the Pope but was overpowered by security guards before reaching the pontiff.
Fr Krohn continued his attempts to draw attention to himself by accusing the judges of being "puppets, communists and assassins", stating that only the mother of God could condemn him.
an earlier hearing he attempted to set fire to a photograph of the Pope after being asked if he had anything to ask in his defence. Court
officials snatched the photograph before the priest could set it alight.
At the opening of the trial Fr Krohn said he intended to stab the Pope in the heart in "legitimate defence of the Church" and he accused the Pope of "demolishing the Catholic Church".
For his outburst this week he was recalled to court and was sentenced to seven months imprisonment and a fine of 18,000 escudos (£112) for insulting the judges. The court ordered that he should be expelled from Portugal at the end of his sentence.
Under Church rules, priests ordained by Archbishop Lefebvre, who was suspended from the priestly ministry by Pope Paul VI in 1976, are considered validly but illicitly ordained and are automatically suspended front all priestly ministry.
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