The decision to stay to bring Christ’s closeness to the least of the least. The choice of the nuns in Mozambique, despite the violence of armed rebels, is brave and moving.

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In recent years, Islamist violence has spread to the north of Mozambique.

In the Cabo Delgado province, groups such as ISIS‑Mozambique – locally known as al‑Shabaab or Ansar al‑Sunna – have sown terror since 2017, spreading as far as the Nampula region.

 

The rebels against all faiths

Brutal attacks, massacres and arson, particularly in the city of Palma, have forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homelands. In the last year alone, according to the U.S. State Department, over 670,000 people have been displaced and more than 6,000 have died in eight years.

The insurgents have committed various atrocities targeting both civilians and religious institutions. The violence affects people of all faiths (including Muslims), but Christian communities are the most targeted.

 

The nuns in Mozambique and the presence of Christ

Yet, as recently declared the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, after visiting Gaza, «Christ is there, crucified in the wounded, buried under the rubble, present in every act of mercy, in every hand that consoles, in every candle lit in the darkness».

Here in Mozambique, this presence of Christ becomes tangible in the Catholic nuns who, though they could leave, choose to stay to offer hope and support.

The Congregation of the Immaculate Conception of the Diocese of Lichinga was founded in Mozambique in 1948 and the sisters work heroically among refugees. They visit camps, welcome women and orphans, distribute material and moral support, psychological and pastoral care.

They survived religious persecution during the Marxist-Leninist regime after independence, when churches were closed and missionaries expelled. Today, their greatest threats are armed rebels, hunger and widespread poverty in refugee camps.

They have often witnessed terrible scenes: displaced families, or child brides fleeing hunger, living in extreme conditions.

 

Fear does not prevail over testimony

The superior, Sister Ermelinda Singua, explains that fear is real, indeed! «Every time I have to travel on isolated roads or cross the bush, I ask for God’s protection», she says. «We are all afraid, that is the truth».

But they choose to stay in the darkest hour to sustain hope and bring Christ’s closeness to the least of the least.

The invitation we make to readers is, if they are not already doing so, to actively support these realities through the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need.