Italian nuns killed in Burundi
September 08, 2014
Three Italian missionary nuns were murdered in Burundi this past weekend.
Sisters Luci Pulici and Olga Raschietti, and Bernadetta Boggian, Xaverian missionaries, were apparently killed at their convent in Kamenge, a suburb of the capital city, Bujumbura.
A police spokesman said that the three elderly nuns had been murdered “savagely.” Two of the women were found with their throats slit.
Officials of the Xaverian order said that early indications suggested that the killings were the result of a robbery that went wrong. The three sisters—who had been working with the poor and sick in Burundi for the past seven years; there was no sign of a political motivation for the crime. In a message to the Xaverian missionary order, Pope Francis expressed his prayer that “the blood they have shed may become the seed of hope to build true fraternity between peoples, raises fervent prayers for the eternal repose of their souls and for their generous witness of the Gospel.”
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Further information:
- Three Italian nuns killed in Burundi, pope 'deeply saddened' (ANSA)
- Three Xaverian missionary sisters killed in Burundi (Vatican Radio)
- Pope Francis: telegrams of condolence for slain sisters (Vatican Radio)
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