The murder of the Italian nun Sister Maria de Coppi, would be a sign of the growing Islamic terrorism in Mozambique. She has been living for the last 59 years in Mozambique and dedicated herself to serving children and youth in a boarding school of her congregation in Chipene, Diocese of Nacala.
The pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) indicated that the armed attack by Muslim terrorists, known as jihadists, began at 9:00 p.m. and lasted until 2:00 a.m. when there were two Italian priests and at least three nuns in Chipene, two Italian and one Spanish.
In addition, ACN pointed out that 12 of the 45 girls were hidden in the boarding school since the 35 young inmates and the rest of the inmates had already been evacuated due to the increase in violence in the area. Most had already returned to their families.
During the attack, the terrorists set fire to and destroyed the mission church, the school, the health center, the library, the houses of priests and nuns, boarding schools, and vehicles.
The Bishop of Nacala, Msgr. Alberto Vera told ACN that the jihadists “destroyed everything”, and also “robbed the tabernacle and vandalized part of the sacristy, looking for anything, probably money”.
ACN indicated that, according to the latest testimonies from local missionaries, “the terrorists arrived at the sisters’ house and forced them to leave.”
One of the nuns managed to flee with a group of inmates, but Sister María decided to return because she thought that the young inmates should be behind the house. They killed her then.
Mons. Vera specified that they had difficulties to communicate in time because there was a cut in the telephone line that lasted several hours.
“This is a big blow because there were foreign religious… they are looking for some international publicity. But, I don’t think it’s against the Church. It was an act of terror,” he maintained.