NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CWNews.com) - Pope John Paul II said on Sunday that the sixth Catholic member of a religious order in a week was killed on Friday, referring to Sister Valeus Mukanoheli of the Congregation of Benebikira in Rwanda.

      The nun was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in front of her mission in northwestern Rwanda. The murder occurred the same day as an attack by Hutu rebels on a nearby Hutu town which killed at least 100 people. Government soldiers had captured one of the rebels and was pursuing others. Officials did not know if the attacks were related. Thousands of people have been killed since 1996 when former Hutu soldiers returned from exile after the 1994 Hutu-organized genocide of more than 500,000 Tutsis and Hutus.

      The Holy Father announced the slaying to a congregation gathered at his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo on Sunday. "I have to mention that to those members of the holy orders killed in the past few days, we must add the name of Sister Valeus Mukanoheli ... tragically killed in Rwanda last Friday," he said. "While we pray for the soul of our sister, we continue to faithfully implore the Lord for peace in Africa and in the whole world."

      Three nuns of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity were killed in Yemen last Monday, a Jesuit missionary was murdered in the Congo the same day, and a Franciscan nun was killed in South Africa the previous Saturday or Sunday.