José Muñoz Cortés
Brother José (Joseph) Muñoz Cortés (a privately tonsure monk Ambrose; 13 May 1948, Santiago, Chile – 30/31 October 1997, Athens, Greece) was an Orthodox monk, and the keeper of a revered copy of the Panagia Portaitissa (Iveron Icon), in Montreal, Canada.[1]
Early life[]
Muñoz was born in Chile into a pious Roman Catholic family of Spanish descent. When Muñoz was 12, he became acquainted with local Archbishop Leontius (Filippovich), and under his influence Muñoz was baptized into the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia two years later, with his mother's consent.[2]
Death[]
In October 1997, during one of his trips with the icon, Muñoz was tortured and murdered in a hotel room in Athens, Greece during the overnight hours of October 30 or 31. The icon was stolen, and has not been seen since. Muñoz had planned to return to Canada the following day to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of the appearance of the miraculous myrrh on the icon.
Aftermath[]
Nicoulai Ciaru, a Romanian, was accused of the murder, and appeared in court on November 18, 1998 in Athens, Greece. The judicial process continued to November 23rd, and Ciaru was acquitted, due to the lack of evidence. [3]
See also[]
- Panagia Portaitissa
- Mother of God
- Panagia
References[]
- ^ Brother Joseph Memorial Foundation (2003). Montreal Myrrh-Streaming Icon and Brother Joseph [Монреальская Мироточивая икона и брат Иосиф] (in Russian). Montreal, Moscow: Publishing house "Pilomnik". p. 477. ISBN 2-9807705-0-7.
- ^ Gumerova, Larisa (13 October 2007). "On the 10th anniversary of the martyrdom of brother Jose [К 10-летию мученической смерти брата Хосе]" (PDF). Our country [Наша страна] (in Russian). Buenos Aires (2829): 3. Retrieved 31 October 2020. She asked to be buried next to her son.
- ^ "The trial of the murderer of Brother Joseph Munoz-Cortes | RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CATHEDRAL OF ST.JOHN THE BAPTIST".
External links[]
- José Muñoz-Cortes - The Chosen One of the Mother of God: Collection of Materials and Witnesses in English
- God's servant. Film about brother Joseph Jose Muñoz. 2005 year (on Russian)
- Hermano José (Muñoz), Guardián del Icono Miróforo de Montreal (on Spanish)
- Brother Joseph (José) Muñoz- Cortes. The Biography of a Martyr
- https://web.archive.org/web/20081106075331/http://www.yalchicago.org/Portaitissa_Miracle_Icon.html
- http://www.orthodoxhawaii.org/icons.html
- http://www.annball.com/books/ofm7-2.shtml
- https://web.archive.org/web/20081206174857/http://www.stjohndc.org/Russian/munoz/e_official/e_9806e.HTM
- 1948 births
- Chilean people of Spanish descent
- Eastern Orthodox Christians from Chile
- Members of the Russian Orthodox Church
- Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy from Roman Catholicism
- Chilean expatriates in Greece
- Eastern Orthodox monks
- Université de Montréal faculty
- Icon painters
- 1997 deaths