Sister Anslem, Sister Reginette, Sister Judith, and Sister Marguerite were serving as caretakers at the Missionaries of Charity's convent and nursing home in Aden, Yemen.
These sisters left their homes in India and Africa to serve the poor, elderly, and disabled in the war-torn country of Yemen. They worked together with volunteers at the convent's home care center, where they served around sixty to eighty patients of all religions.
“They were serving all poor people irrespective of their religion. Their duty was to help the poor,” a representative from the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia told CNA.
But on March 4, the convent was attacked by two gunmen who killed Sr. Anslem, Sr. Judith, Sr. Marguerite, and Sr. Reginette, along with sixteen other victims, including volunteers from Ethiopia and Yemen. Each victim was found handcuffed and shot in the head.
No residents of the nursing home were harmed.
Pope Francis called the sisters “martyrs of today” who “gave their blood for the Church.”
According to a statement from the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia, Sr. Anslem was from Ranchi, India and would have turned 60 years old on May 8. Sr. Judith was from Kenya and had just turned 41 years old on Feb. 2. Sr. Marguerite was from Rwanda and would have been 44 years old on April 29. The youngest nun, Sr. Reginette, was from Rwanda and would've turned 33 on June 29.
Since the attack, the Missionaries of Charity's nursing home has been relying on the aid of volunteers and government support to continue their care of the elderly, which has lasted for 24 years in Aden.
“Now, the local government is taking care of the elderly with the help of some volunteers, university students and young people,” the representative said.
The convent's superior, Sister Sally, was originally reported missing during the attack, but she has since been declared safe.
“Sister Sally is safe and I think she will go to her regional superior's house that is in Jordan,” the representative added.
However, Salesian priest Father Tom Uzhunnalil is still missing after his reported abduction. Fr. Uzhunnalil is an Indian priest who had been staying with the sisters and has not been found since the attack on March 4.
No group has claimed responsibility for the onslaught against the Missionaries of Charity convent, but the country of Yemen is in the midst of a year-long civil war which has claimed the lives of more than 6,000 people.
The spiritual climax of the Gospel of John, as Father John Waiss points out, occurs at the foot of the Cross, where Jesus utters his parting words: “Woman, behold, your son!” and “Behold your mother!” (John 19:26-27). While these words were addressed to the Apostle John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, the Church has long understood this moment as a universal adoption. To truly image Christ, we must share in His parentage; if we embrace God as our spiritual Father but reject Mary as our mother, we treat Christ as a half-brother rather than our "firstborn among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29). As Origen noted as early as the third century, the profound depths of the Gospel are only accessible to those who, like John, rest their heads on Jesus’ breast and receive Mary into their own homes. This maternal role is deeply rooted in biblical typology, positioning Mary as the fulfillment of the great mothers of the Old Covenant. She is the New Eve , the mother of all the living according ...