Franciscan monks attacked "clockwork orange-style"

Where did this come from?

Italians have been left shocked by a ferocious assault on Franciscan monks by hooded thugs at a monastery in the foothills of the Alps, which has been compared to incidents seen in the film 'A Clockwork Orange'.

Father Sergio Baldin, 48, the guardian of the San Colombano Belmonte monastery near Turin, and three elderly monks from the Franciscan order of Friars Minor, were having their evening meal when they were attacked by three hooded men who gagged and bound them before punching, kicking and beating them with clubs.

... Cardinal Severino Poletto, the Archbishop of Turin, who visited the victims in hospital, said the attack was "beyond comprehension". The only possible explanation was that the assailants had been "either drugged or possessed, or both", he said. (UK Times)

Just evil.

Steve Skojec, who gets the hat tip for this story, adds:

I think it would be good to keep both the intentions of the victims and the conversion of the attackers in our prayers. It might also be worthwhile to enlist the aid of another Franciscan, St. Anthony of Padua, in finding the assailants and bringing them to justice.

Amen.