NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      ADEN, Yemen (CWNews.com) - Three nuns of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity order were buried in Yemen on Thursday, three days after they were gunned down by a suspected Muslim extremist.

      The bodies of Sisters Zilia, 35, and Elita, 40 -- both from India -- and Michaela, 36, from the Philippines were buried in a Christian cemetery following a funeral Mass attended by Sister Nirmala, the head of the order, as well as government officials, diplomats, and some Muslim Yemeni who acknowledged the sisters' contributions to their community.

      The three nuns were shot on Monday as they made their way to the clinic where they worked in the city of Hoedeida. The gunman was immediately seized by residents who witnessed the shooting. An official said the suspect confessed to his crime and said he killed the nuns because they were "preaching Christianity." On Thursday, soldiers were posted outside the Catholic church in Aden where the funeral Mass was held, and also along the procession route to the cemetery.