A Roman Catholic priest from Spain who lived for many years in Cuba has been found dead outside Havana, Church officials said Sunday.Authorities recovered the body of Eduardo de la Fuente Serrano, a 59-year-old Madrid native, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) from Cuba's capital, said Orlando Marquez, spokesman for Havana's Conference of Bishops.
It was not clear when the body was found. Neither Marquez nor Spanish Embassy officials gave details about the death.
"I can confirm he was found dead and this is being investigated," Marquez said by telephone.
Marquez said de la Fuente had been in Cuba for many years, but had held his current post at the Santa Clara de Lawton Parish in Havana for a little more than two years.
Cuban police refused to comment and a spokeswoman for Cuba's government said she had no information about the case.
The Rev. Pedro Angel Garcia of San Antonio de Padoua Parish in Havana's Miramar district said that de la Fuente was "a simple man, frank and open."
Garcia, a Spaniard who had lived in Cuba for 21 years, said de la Fuente had conducted Mass on Friday night, leading him to speculate that "the incident probably took place in the early hours of Saturday morning." He said he did not know the details of the case, however.
"He helped those who needed it most so much, finding them clothes, shoes, all kinds of things," Garcia said of De la Fuente.
"He even helped them do repairs on their houses."
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(Source: AFP)