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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
William McGee & Laura Sharman

Moment groom charges through church and throws punch at priest who refused to marry him

A disgruntled groom charged through a church and threw a punch at a Catholic priest who refused to marry him for a second time.

The husband-to-be was filmed during a packed mass at the Nossa Senhora da Conceicao Aparecida Church in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Video footage shows the priest speaking from the steps to the altar when, all of a sudden, a man in a white top runs down the aisle and straight towards the clergyman.

The angry fiancé then throws a punch at the priest in front of fellow worshippers at the church in Rio's Cachambi neighbourhood.

As he launches his attack, those nearby can be seen immediately intervening to break up the scuffle while others look on horrified and shout out in shock.

The man attacked the priest in June (CEN)
The brawl broke out in front of fellow churchgoers (CEN)

The man, who has not been named, attacked the priest because the churchman had refused to marry him for a second time, according to local reports.

Despite being left with minor injuries, the churchman chose not to report his attacker to the police, it is understood.

The archdiocese had not commented on the incident at the time of reporting in June.

The incident took place at a church in the Cachambi neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (google.co.uk/maps)

Catholics believe that marriage must be lifelong and that the only way a marriage can end is if one of the couple dies.

If a couple gets a divorce, they are not allowed to remarry in the Catholic Church.

The Catholic faith also believes that every marriage should be an exclusive relationship between two people and those who break it are committing adultery.

Fellow churchgoers tried to intervene (CEN)
The ruckus was caught on camera (CEN)

Catholicism is the largest recognised branch of the Christian Church in Brazil.

Around 123million people or almost 65% of the Brazilian population, refer to themselves as Catholic.

It means Brazil is the country with the biggest Catholic community in the world.

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