13 Sep, 2010 @ 16:21
1 min read

Thousands gather as Fray Leopoldo is beatified

By Wendy Williams

MORE than 60,000 people gathered this weekend to witness the beatification of Capuchin monk Fray Leopoldo de Alpandeire.

The special ceremony, held on Sunday at the Armilla air base in Granada, was attended by 150 religious figures from around the world and paid homage to the Spanish monk, who is much revered throughout Andalucía.

Born near Ronda, the eldest of four siblings, he spent most of his life working in Granada, until his death in 1956 aged 92.

And his tomb, located in the Capuchin convent, has already gained cult status and has been described as “the most visited place in Granada after the Alhambra palace”.

Now, the city has officially become the city of Fray Leopoldo.

And with over 3,000 people involved in organising the event, at a cost of around three million euros, the open-air mass has awarded Fray Leopoldo the title of Blessed and moved him one step closer towards sainthood.

Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)

Jon Clarke is a Londoner who worked at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday as an investigative journalist before moving to Spain in 2003 where he helped set up the Olive Press.

After studying Geography at Manchester University he fell in love with Spain during a two-year stint teaching English in Madrid.

On returning to London, he studied journalism and landed his first job at the weekly Informer newspaper in Teddington, covering hundreds of stories in areas including Hounslow, Richmond and Harrow.

This led on to work at the Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Mirror, Standard and even the Sun, before he landed his first full time job at the Daily Mail.

After a year on the Newsdesk he worked as a Showbiz correspondent covering mostly music, including the rise of the Spice Girls, the rivalry between Oasis and Blur and interviewed many famous musicians such as Joe Strummer and Ray Manzarak, as well as Peter Gabriel and Bjorn from Abba on his own private island.

After a year as the News Editor at the UK’s largest-selling magazine Now, he returned to work as an investigative journalist in Features at the Mail on Sunday.

As well as tracking down Jimi Hendrix’ sole living heir in Sweden, while there he also helped lead the initial investigation into Prince Andrew’s seedy links to Jeffrey Epstein during three trips to America.

He had dozens of exclusive stories, while his travel writing took him to Jamaica, Brazil and Belarus.

He is the author of three books; Costa Killer, Dining Secrets of Andalucia and My Search for Madeleine.

Contact jon@theolivepress.es

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