Murdered Nun: Pope, "martyrs' Blood Seed Of New Christians"

[gilliam]

(AGI) - Castelgandolfo, Italy, Sept 23 - This morning Pope Benedict XVI paid his respects to the memory of Sr. Leonella Sgorbati, who was “barbarically killed in Mogadishu, in Somalia” saying, “The blood of martyrs is the seed of new Christians”. This is an example, he told a group of new bishops from developing countries, of “martyrdom that, yesterday just like today, cloaks the Church’s history. Although it is within the context of suffering and concern, it keeps alive in our souls the faith of a glorious abundance of Christian faith”. As well as Sr. Leonella, the Pope also remembered today all “the many priests, religious figures, both members of the Church and lay people, who in past centuries as well as in our own times, sealed the missionary lands with the blood of their own faith in Christ and in the Catholic Church”. He continued, “Just a few days ago, Sr. Leonella added her own sacrifice to the number of these heroic testimonies to the Gospels, when she was barbarically killed in Mogadishu”. The Pope then asked the bishops who had been summoned to Rome to be given a course updating them on the Congregation for Evangelisation of the People to “encourage a sincere and open dialogue with everyone, because together we can build a humanity that is more solid and fraternal”. And he also told them that “to bring this apostolic task to fruition, don’t have any fear even of persecution or of death. You have been called to be shepherds among the people, a good part of whom do not yet know Jesus Christ. As the primary people responsible for spreading the Gospels, you must make some considerable effort so that everyone is given the chance to hear it,” he concluded. (AGI) .
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