Three Italian nuns killed in ‘botched robbery’ in Burundi convent

Three Italian nuns were murdered in their convent over the weekend in Kamenge, north of Burundi’s capital Bujumbura, a priest in the African state said on Monday. Police said two suspects had been detained for questioning after what appears to have been a botched robbery. Father Mario Pulcini, responsible for the parish, named the nuns as Lucia Pulici, aged 75, Olga Raschietti, aged 82, and Bernadetta Boggian, aged 79.

This was the tragic outcome of an armed robbery by a mentally unbalanced person.

Statement on the Catholic diocese of Parma website

Two of the Xaverian Missionaries of Mary nuns, Sister Pulici – who had been due to celebrate her birthday Monday – and Sister Raschietti, were found dead in their mission of Kamenge on Sunday. The third, Sister Boggian, was discovered early Monday by Father Pulcini who had rushed to the convent after receiving a frantic phone call. In 2011, a Croatian nun and an Italian aid worker were killed in another failed robbery in northern Burundi. The central African republic is one of the world’s poorest nations, with an economy that depends heavily on tea and coffee exports. It has been struggling to overcome the legacy of a 12-year civil war between rival ethnic groups.

Sister Lucia treated thousands of sick people and was very involved in parish life.

Father Mario Pulcini, Xaverian Superior in Burundi

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