BOSTON (EAP) - A cross of Jesus was responsible for the death of a Boston man yesterday after it came loose from a church wall and struck the man dead while he was preaching to his congregation at The Holy Church of Mary in east Boston.

The statue became dislodged from a wall which was stressed due to local flooding and an unstable foundation. The cross fell down and struck Father Leonard Williams on the head, killing him instantly.

"We've had a lot of rain here lately, and our church is falling apart," said Irene Davis, 15 year member of the church. "We decided to spend our collection money on the new Jesus cross last month instead of spending it on repairing the church wall, and I think this was a big mistake," she said.

We all love Jesus so much, and we just wanted to have a big cross of him on our church wall. It was a beautiful cross, and so life like," she said. "There was even blood coming out of Jesus's wounds, and it was simply wonderful."

"Seeing Jesus up there on the cross all bloody and suffering just filled my heart with joy," Davis said. "It's too bad the cross killed Father Williams, but we can't question God's will. After all, he knows best."

Apparently, the weight of the new cross was too much for the wall to support, and it came tumbling down after being in place for only two days.

"We think this was an act of God," said Marlene Rogers, another member of the church. "Otherwise, it wouldn't have happened this way. We think it was just Father Williams time to go," she said.

The church is currently taking collections to repair the wall, and plans on having a cross painted on the wall instead of putting the statue back up.

"We don't want this sort of thing to happen again, so we're taking some precautions," said Rogers.