Priests in South Africa are targets for robbers because they are believed to have money, several clerics said after a French missionary became the fourth priest to be murdered in the country during 2009. Five people, including three teenagers, have been arrested for the murder on Dec. 7 of Louis Blondel, 70, a priest of the Missionaries of Africa, in Diepsloot in the Archdiocese of Pretoria. The robbers, who made off with less than $10 and a few possessions, entered through a small window and shot Father Blondel when he opened his bedroom door. Blondel’s murder was part of a violent week for Catholic clerics and religious in Africa, tragically accompanied by the killing of the Rev. Daneil Cizimya Nakamaga, 51, and Sister Denise Kahambu in separate attacks near Bukavu, Congo, and the murder on Dec. 11 of Jeremiah Roche, 68, an Irish priest, at his home in Kericho, Kenya.
Tragic Week for African Missionaries
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
It is fair to say that the global tab for addressing the world’s acute humanitarian or ecological needs pales in comparison to the eye-watering amounts governments unabashedly dole out for bombs and bullets.
This week on “Inside the Vatican,” hosts Colleen Dulle and Gerard O’Connell and producer Ricardo da Silva, S.J., answer listener questions about the conclave and the first month of Pope Leo XIV.
Abuse experts and survivors express a mix of tentative hopes and low expectations for how Pope Leo might address disciplining abusers, supporting victims and ensuring that the church is a safe environment for all.
“It literally felt like kidnapping. I saw three of those ‘kidnappings’ happen in the span of 20 minutes.” That is how Angel Mortel described detainments she witnessed outside of a Los Angeles courtroom.