Three Xaverian Missionary Sisters Killed in Africa

WAYNE, N.J. - Sept. 10, 2014 - PRLog -- Fr. Carl Chudy SX US Provincial Superior of the Xaverian Missionaries has issued a statement on the killing of the three Xaverian Missionary Sisters of Mary in two separate incidences in their convent at Blessed Guido Maria Conforti Parish in Kamenge, Bujumbura, Burundi.

“We deeply mourn the loss of these three women dedicated to living, serving and spreading the Gospel of Jesus in Africa,” states Fr. Carl.

Sister Lucia Pulici XMM, 75, and Sister Olga Raschietti XMM, 82, were found dead Sept. 7 in their mission residence in the capital of Bujumbura. Sister Bernadetta Bogianni XMM, 79, who had found the bodies, was killed the next night.

The three missionary sisters had been working in Burundi, helping the poor and the sick for the past seven years, prior to that they spent the majority of their lives working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Sister Bernadette Bogianni had been a superior of the congregation for many years. Sr. Olga Raschietti had spent the last fifty years of her life in Africa.  Xaverian sisters in Parma have told reporters that they are shocked by the killings and awed by the fact that the Kamenge mission is “full of people” who have come to mourn the nuns and express their solidarity.

The Superior of the Xaverians in the northern suburb of the capital, Bujumbura, Fr. Mario Pulcini, described the sisters as “loving caregivers…very well-loved by the people.” He says the murders appeared to be the tragic outcome of an armed robbery or a vendetta and that nothing can justify the killing.

Sister Delia Guadagnini, former Regional Superior of the Xaverian Missionary Sisters of Mary for Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi told Agenzia Fides News Service the sisters were “totally at the service of the people, making home visits, helping the poor the sisters were greatly loved by the people.” She continued: “This is why we cannot understand.  In Burundi there was never any misunderstanding and we cannot imagine who would want to hurt us in such an evil manner. What happed is a tragedy and a mystery…. The authorities in Burundi say investigations are underway and some people are being questioned. The local people are dismayed and find no explanation for such a cruel act.”

Sr. Delia, who is in Uvira (Democratic Republic of Congo) on the opposite side of Lake Tanganica to Bujumbura, went to the mission yesterday morning said the Xaverian Missionary Sisters of Mary will be going to Bujumbura for the funeral to take the sisters’ coffins to the Xaverian cemetery in Bukavu (east DRC) where on Thursday there will be a mass in the Cathedral. The bodies will not be brought back to Italy. She stated: “This was the wish of all three of our sister missionaries, and also the desire of the people they loved an served who want to keep them here in Africa: A mark of love to the end.”

His Holiness Pope Francis sent a telegram to the Superior General of the Missionary Sisters of Mary in Parma Italy saying he is “deeply saddened by the tragic death of the Xaverian Missionary Sisters killed in Burundi,” and “wishes to assure his heartfelt participation in the profound suffering of the congregation for the loss of such dedicated sisters and, in the hope that the blood they have shed may become the seed of hope to build true fraternity between peoples…”

Today, Xaverian Missionary Sisters live in some 40 communities and are present in the United States, Italy, Brazil, Mexico, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Japan and Thailand. They live in small mission communities, often in areas of great poverty where they engage in evangelization, and provide health care and support to those in need.