A Spanish priest has been murdered in Cuba, marking the second priest from Spain killed near Havana this year.

Rev. Mariano Arroyo's body was discovered Monday at the parish he served across the bay from the capital. 

The Havana archbishop's office said it appeared that the priest had been murdered.  

Arroyo arrived in Cuba with the visit of the Pope in 1997 and was popular in his community.

"Authorities here in Cuba are working to clarify the facts, but our priest has been killed and everybody in the village feels awful about it," said Orlando Arocha, Sacristan of the coastal neighborhood of Regla. "The truth is that he was, as I've always said, he could be described in two words... saintly man.  That was Father Mariano."

Authorities are still trying to solve the murder of another Spanish priest last February.