Sister’s Killing Due to Nation’s Anarchy, Says Bishop

The shooting on Sunday of Italian Consolata missionary, Sister Leonella Sgorbati, in Mogadishu should be seen in terms of the lawlessness in the failed Horn of Africa nation, the apostolic administrator of Mogadishu said.

Somalia has been without central government since 1991. A transitional administration based in Baidoa is powerless. Its president, Adullahi Yusuf, survived an assassination attempt yesterday. Clan warlords control segments of the nation. In recent days, the Union of Islamic Courts has gained control of Mogadishu and its environs.

“The murder of Sr Leonella must be seen in the context of the situation in that country where rising tension is due to a series of causes,” Bishop Giorgio Bertin of Djibouti and apostolic administrator of Mogadishu told FIDES.

“In recent months there has been visible rising tension against the West and Christianity. This was also due to reports of Ethiopian troops on Somali territory, because Ethiopia is seen as a Christian power. In addition, there have been inflammatory discourses by certain extremists. In Somalia, there is a struggle for power in which religion is exploited” said Bishop Bertin

“In the past even the sisters were targets of abductions and attacks. Great prudence is necessary before making statements in the present sensitive and complicated situation in Somalia” the Bishop added.

Sr Leonella, 65, and her bodyguard were shot dead outside the SOS Hospital in Mogadishu where she worked. The requiem mass will be held at Consolata Shrine Parish Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya, on Thursday starting 10.00 am East Africa Time, and thereafter burial in the Nazareth Hospital cemetery in Kiambu. Bishop Bertin is expected to attend the funeral.

He said “the aim was not to kill Sr Leonella but to strike a Catholic nun, any nun. The ambush was premeditated. The killers knew at what time Sister would go home for lunch and they knew where to strike.”

He said he knew Sr Leonella well. “I used to pull her leg a lot. Sister Leonella was of robust build but I always told her that her heart was far bigger than her bulk. And it was true: although not in good health, Sr Leonella was determined to stay and carry on her work to assist the people of Somalia. Sadly, it was a bullet that stopped that great heart from beating”

Sheikh Muktar Robow, vice security chief for the Islamic Courts which now control Mogadishu, strongly condemned the murder as a “barbarous act contrary to the teaching of Islam,” according to FIDES.