On August 14, 2025, our brother Juan Antonio Palacios Bañuelos passed away at El Escorial Hospital (Madrid) at the age of 73. His death was the result of a serious fall down the stairs of our community in El Escorial, which caused severe injuries he could not overcome. Juan Antonio arrived last January at the El Escorial Community, while still belonging to the Region of Paraguay, to receive treatment for various medical conditions.
Juan Antonio was born on June 30, 1952, in Bañares, province of La Rioja, son of Eliseo and Elena, both deceased. In recent months, his siblings have frequently visited him at the El Escorial community.
Juan Antonio took the habit on September 29, 1971, in El Escorial, where he made his temporary profession a year later, on September 29, 1972. After studying philosophy and theology, he made his perpetual profession on November 23, 1977, in Asunción (Paraguay). There he was ordained a priest on January 6, 1978.
Juan Antonio did not spend much time in Spain after his temporary profession. He served between 1975 and 1977 at the Parish of San Eloy in Madrid, and from there he went to Paraguay, where he worked in Asunción and Presidente Franco. In 1996 he spent a year in Spain for ongoing formation and lived in the Catalan Volunteers community. The following year he returned to Paraguay, where he was elected Regional Superior, a role he held until December 2003.
In 2007 he decided to continue belonging to the Region of Paraguay and thus became a member of the Province of Brazil. On January 16, 2025, he arrived with José Ramón Torre-Marín sscc at the El Escorial community for evaluation and treatment of various medical issues. He arrived in Spain with already deteriorated health. In the following months, further tests revealed additional conditions besides those diagnosed in Paraguay.
On the 14th, he suffered a fall down the stairs of our house that left him in a critical condition. As the emergency doctor who treated him on site expressed, it was doubtful he would reach the hospital alive. After being transferred, the superior of the El Escorial community was informed by the doctors of his passing. He died due to respiratory failure and multiple injuries from the fall.
Throughout his life, Juan Antonio was always a good, upright, and wholehearted brother, deeply in love with the mission of the Congregation in Paraguay, to which he dedicated the best of himself. Many people from the parishes of Presidente Franco and Asunción are showing their affection and appreciation through messages to the brothers there.
We thank God for Juan Antonio’s life. Surely he would want us to pray not only for him but also for his family and the people he served in Paraguay. We also pray to the Lord for the Province of Brazil and the Region of Paraguay. Lastly, we ask for prayers for the El Escorial community and for the caregivers who have accompanied and cared for him in recent months. May he rest in peace.
The funeral Mass will be (God willing) next Saturday, August 16, 2025, at the Church of the Sacred Hearts in El Escorial at 12 noon.
08/15/2025