The Murder of An African Sister
Posted On December 23, 2009
The wave of assassinations that claimed thousands of victims currently in eastern DR Congo spares nobody. All segments of the population are affected in dramatic ways.
A recent case, the subject of this dispatch, is what happened in the Archdiocese of Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where the Xaverian Missionaries work. The scene of a heinous double murder occurred in the space of 48 hours. On the night of Saturday, December 6, Father Daniel Cizimya Nakagami was shot dead in his rectory in Kabare. The next day, Monday, December 7, 2009, it was the turn of the Trappist nun SISTER DENISE KAHAMBU MUHAYIRWA, at the Monastery of Our Lady of Clear-God Murhesa. Sister Denise Kahambu was preparing to celebrate her birthday of 45 years.
After the prayer of Compline and the Salve Regina on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Tuesday, December 8, Sister Denise had gone to the dining room of the Monastery of Hospitality to ensure that visitors from Goma had everything they needed for the night. While she went to the visitors, the gunmen arrived at the gate with a threatening look.
Seeing the danger ahead, Sister Denise wanted to withdraw in haste to warn her sisters. Without saying a word, without asking, these thugs chased the sister. Then they shot her in her left thigh. She fell face down on the ground and died within minutes as she bled to death. The other nuns, out of fear following the shots fired, could not get there in time to rescue Sister Denise.
Please pray for her, Fr. Daniel and all of the Church of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
