Arturo Martinez-Sanchez says he had no choice but to forgive the man suspected of sexually assaulting and killing his wife and young daughter in an April 2012 attack that also left him seriously wounded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to forgive him, to go the way of life,\u201d the Las Vegas resident told CNA in a July 17 interview. \u201cIt\u2019s in the Bible \u2026 I forgive him because I believe in God.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Bible says: You forgive this gentleman, and you are forgiven yourself. That\u2019s the way it is,\u201d said\u00a0 Martinez-Sanchez, a lifelong Catholic who said his upbringing and education in the Church impressed on him the need to forgive Bryan Clay.<\/p>\n
Martinez-Sanchez recently held a press conference to declare that he forgave the 22-year-old Clay, who is accused of raping Arturo\u2019s 38-year-old wife Yadira and their 10-year-old daughter Karla. Both were beaten to death with a hammer by the attacker, who also inflicted severe head injuries on the father.<\/p>\n
Clay and Martinez-Sanchez did not know each other before the home invasion, described by a Las Vegas police lieutenant as \u201ca random, savage act.\u201d The 39-year-old father and his wife also had two sons, Christopher and Alejandro, who were spared in the attack.<\/p>\n
Arturo underwent two brain surgeries along with extensive physical therapy. He still speaks with difficulty, and continues to receive six hours of treatment each day.<\/p>\n
But he has summoned the strength to reopen the boxing gym he ran before the murders. And through his faith in God, he has set aside any form of hatred or desire for personal vengeance against the suspected killer.<\/p>\n
Accompanied by his sons, he stunned listeners at the July 12 press conference with his response to a reporter who asked what he would say to Bryan Clay, given the chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say, \u2018I forgive you,\u2019\u201d he responded. \u201cIf he kissed me on the cheek, I would kiss him back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI love my Yadira. I love my Karla. I love my sons,\u201d Martinez-Sanchez said at the press conference. \u201cWe all love Jesus. Through his strength, we will survive.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Read more.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The remarkable details from Catholic News Agency: \u00a0 Arturo Martinez-Sanchez says he had no choice but to forgive the man suspected of sexually assaulting and killing his wife and young daughter in an April 2012 attack that also left him seriously wounded. \u201cI have to forgive him, to go the way of life,\u201d the Las […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inspiration","category-ripped-from-the-headlines"],"yoast_head":"\n
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