Mozambique bishops say questions remain unanswered 3 months after bishop’s murder

(OSV News) — The bishops’ conference of Mozambique said it has yet to receive any details on the murder of Bishop Osório Citora Afonso of Quelimane, who was shot dead in his residence in June.

In a Sept. 4 statement published after the conclusion of its plenary assembly, the bishops’ conference said the fact that “perpetrators and circumstances of his murder have not yet been clarified leaves us perplexed.”

“Bishop Osório’s death has caused profound sorrow in the Diocese of Quelimane and throughout the Mozambican population, which still questions how it is possible that a pastor who loved life, peace, and his people could be murdered in his own home,” the statement read.

The bishop, who also served as apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Beira and as secretary general of the bishops’ conference, was found dead from a gunshot wound to the chest at his residence in the early hours of June 6.

In a statement sent later that day to the pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need, Archbishop Inácio Saúre of Nampula, president of the Mozambique bishops’ conference, said that the prelate was found “lifeless and in strange circumstances that have yet to be clarified.”

The bishop’s murder came just one month after a Catholic church in northern Mozambique was targeted in an attack by militants of the Islamic State group, which has carried out attacks against Christians and Muslims in the country since 2017.

The Vatican issued a statement on behalf of Pope Leo XIV, who was on his apostolic trip to Spain when Bishop Osório’s death was announced.

Lamenting the “grave act of violence,” Pope Leo prayed for the people and dioceses of Mozambique “in this hour of distress, that the Lord may grant them consolation, that he may protect each man and woman in his love and stay the hand of the violent,” the Vatican press office said.

In its recent statement, the bishops’ conference of Mozambique said Bishop Citora Afonso’s violent death “at the hands of an assassin was a harsh blow to the heart of the Catholic Church in Mozambique and continues to cause us grief.”

“We have lost a brother who was still young and from whom much was expected,” the bishops wrote. The murdered prelate had turned 54 on May 6, exactly one month before he was found dead.

The bishops expressed their gratitude for the “numerous expressions of solidarity” from around the world, including Pope Leo, who “from the very beginning, has closely followed the situation in Mozambique, encouraging us to transform this tragedy into a journey of conversion, purification, and renewal.”

According to the statement, the pope had “expressed his closeness and his keen interest in clarifying the circumstances and causes surrounding the death of Bishop Osório Citora Afonso” during a meeting with the bishops’ conference leadership at the Vatican July 3.

In an earlier July 12 statement, the conference said it conveyed its concerns to the pope regarding “the lack of clear answers” about the bishop’s assassination.

“The pontiff encouraged the bishops not to succumb to discouragement, stating that, despite the pain caused by the death of Bishop Osório, this moment could become an opportunity for purification, renewal, and strengthening of the Church’s evangelizing mission,” the statement read.

Nevertheless, the bishops’ conference said Sept. 4 the Catholic Church in the country “continues to live with deep grief and concern over this unprecedented assassination in the history of the Church in Mozambique.”

“We regret that, despite the efforts made to date, nothing is known from the competent authorities regarding what transpired,” the bishops wrote. “The answers to the questions we are all asking remain missing: who exactly killed Bishop Osório? Who were the intellectual and material perpetrators of this violent death? What were the motives behind the murder?”

“Three months after the event, we continue to await answers to these questions,” the bishops said.

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