Mozambique: Italian Comboni nun killed in attack in Chipene

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Mozambique: Italian Comboni nun killed in attack in Chipene

2:00 CAT | 07 Sep 2022

Image: Paolo De Coppi on Twitter/ @paolodecoppi

A Comboni nun was killed in the attack in a mission in Chipene. in the province of Nampula in northern Mozambique, which took place on the night between September 6 and 7.

Sister Maria De Coppi, an 84-year-old Combonian nun from Santa Lucia di Piave was killed in the attack. The nun had been in Mozambique since 1963.

“Piangiamo per un’altra sorella che con semplicità, dedizione e nel silenzio ha offerto la vita per amore del Vangelo”. Il cordoglio del card. Matteo Zuppi, arcivescovo di Bologna e presidente della #CEI, per la morte di suor Maria De Coppi #Mozambico pic.twitter.com/hbdaPVa2Rt

— @CEI (@UCSCEI) September 7, 2022

Very sad news. After 58 servicing in Mozambique a close relative was killed. She dedicated her life to the poorest and was certainly inspirational for me to decide to become a doctor. Goodbye Suor Maria and thanks! RIP https://t.co/sUEcmCq8a8 pic.twitter.com/Ev60dE2ngq

— Paolo De Coppi (@paolodecoppi) September 7, 2022

According to reports sent to Fides, the attackers destroyed the mission structures, including the church, the hospital and the primary and secondary school. Sister Maria was hit by a bullet in the head as she tried to reach the dormitory where the few remaining students were.

Two missionaries from Concordia-Pordenone diocese managed to get away: Fr. Loris Vignandel, 45, from Corva and former parish priest of Chions (Pordenone) and Fr. Lorenzo Barro, who was rector of the diocesan seminary of the city of Destra Tagliamento.

“Sister Maria’s fellow nuns have set off to reach Chipene and take her body to bury it in another mission”, says to Agenzia Fides His Exc. Mgr. Inacio Saure, Archbishop of Nampula.

On the identity of those who perpetrated the attack, Msgr. Suare reports that “we are not sure if they are Islamic terrorists even though it is very likely that they were the ones who attacked the mission”.

The province of Nampula together with that of Cabo Delgado is victim of the instability caused by the presence of terrorist groups that refer to the Islamic State. While in Cabo Delgado the operations of the military from Rwanda and other nations who came to support the Mozambican soldiers were concentrated, the province of Nampula has seen a resurgence of jihadist attacks in recent months.

“In reality – says Msgr. Saure – jihadist groups continue to operate in Cabo Delgado too, but in our province the assaults have forced the population to flee. We do not know how many people have sought refuge in the forest. It is a terrible drama and still difficult to quantify”.

Mozambique
Additional information;
The local administrator and a nun were killed. https://t.co/75pVqt3UnU

— Jasmine Opperman (@Jasminechic00) September 7, 2022

Italian nun killed in terror attack in Mozambique – ANSA

Two priests and two other nuns managed to get away

An Italian nun, Sister Maria De Coppi, was killed in a terrorist attack in Chipene, Mozambique, late on Tuesday, her religious order, the Comboni Missionary Sisters, said on Wednesday.

The order said the terrorists raided the mission, killed De Coppi, and set fire to mission’s church, the nuns’ homes, the hospital and its equipment.

It said two other nuns, one Italian and another Spanish, managed to escape and hide in a forest with a group of young people.

It said the order was trying to get the survivors evacuated with the help of the Italian foreign ministry’s crisis unit.

Another Catholic body, the Centro Missionario Concordia Pordenone, said two priests serving at the mission, Loris Vignandel and Lorenzo Barro, had managed to get away too and were alive.

Source: Agenzia Fides / ANSA