{"id":61800,"date":"2025-08-20T23:39:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T21:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/?p=61800"},"modified":"2025-08-20T23:39:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T21:39:11","slug":"mozambique-the-nuns-stay-despite-islamist-fury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/2025\/08\/20\/mozambique-the-nuns-stay-despite-islamist-fury\/","title":{"rendered":"Mozambique, The Nuns Stay Despite Islamist Fury"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-127129\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/suore_mozambico.webp\" alt=\"Mozambique nuns\" width=\"602\" height=\"316\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><i>The decision to <strong>stay<\/strong> to bring Christ\u2019s closeness to the least of the least. The choice of the <strong>nuns in Mozambique<\/strong>, despite the violence of armed rebels, is <strong>brave and moving<\/strong>.<\/i><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In recent years, Islamist violence has spread to the north of <strong><mark>Mozambique<\/strong><\/mark>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In the Cabo Delgado province, groups such as <strong>ISIS\u2011Mozambique<\/strong> \u2013 locally known as al\u2011Shabaab or Ansar al\u2011Sunna \u2013 have <strong>sown terror<\/strong> since 2017, spreading as far as the Nampula region.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<h2>The rebels against all faiths<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Brutal attacks, <strong>massacres and arson<\/strong>, 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 <strong>670,000 people<\/strong> have been displaced and more than <strong>6,000 have died<\/strong> in eight years.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The insurgents have committed various atrocities targeting both civilians and religious institutions. The violence <strong>affects people of all faiths<\/strong> (including Muslims), but Christian communities are the most targeted.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<h2>The nuns in Mozambique and the presence of Christ<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Yet, as recently <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.avvenire.it\/mondo\/pagine\/pizzaballa-gaza\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">declared<\/a><\/em><\/strong> the Patriarch of Jerusalem, <strong>Pierbattista Pizzaballa<\/strong>, after visiting Gaza, <i>\u00ab<strong>Christ is there<\/strong>, crucified in the wounded, buried under the rubble, <strong>present in every act of mercy<\/strong>, in every hand that consoles, in every candle lit in the darkness\u00bb<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Here in Mozambique, this presence of Christ <strong>becomes tangible<\/strong> in the Catholic nuns who, though they could leave, choose to stay to offer hope and support.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The <strong><mark>Congregation of the Immaculate Conception<\/mark><\/strong> of the Diocese of Lichinga was founded in Mozambique in 1948 and the sisters <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/acn-canada.org\/northern-mozambique-trapped-between-terrorism-and-hunger\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">work<\/a><\/em><\/strong> heroically among refugees. They visit camps, welcome women and orphans, distribute material and moral support, psychological and pastoral care.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">They survived religious persecution during the <strong>Marxist-Leninist regime<\/strong> after independence, when churches were closed and missionaries expelled. Today, their greatest threats are <strong>armed rebels<\/strong>, hunger and widespread poverty in refugee camps.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">They have often witnessed terrible scenes: displaced families, or <strong>child brides<\/strong> fleeing hunger, living in extreme conditions.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<h2>Fear does not prevail over testimony<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The superior, <strong>Sister Ermelinda Singua<\/strong>, <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=AI9i_lkMzwQ&amp;t=6s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">explains<\/a><\/em><\/strong> that fear is real, indeed! <i>\u00abEvery time I have to travel on isolated roads or cross the bush, I ask for God&#8217;s protection\u00bb<\/i>, she says. <i>\u00abWe are all afraid, that is the truth\u00bb<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">But they <strong>choose to stay<\/strong> in the darkest hour to sustain hope and bring <strong>Christ\u2019s closeness<\/strong> to the least of the least.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>The invitation we make to readers<\/strong> is, if they are not already doing so, to actively support these realities through the pontifical foundation <strong><i><a href=\"https:\/\/acs-italia.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Aid to the Church in Need<\/a><\/i><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The decision to stay to bring Christ\u2019s closeness to the least of the least. The brave choice of the nuns in Mozambique.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":61801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":17,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1702,1701,1703,1705,1704],"class_list":["post-61800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-congregation-of-the-immaculate-conception","tag-mozambican-catholics","tag-mozambique","tag-nuns-mozambique","tag-sister-ermelinda-singua"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Mozambique, The Nuns Stay Despite Islamist Fury - UCCR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The decision to stay to bring Christ\u2019s closeness to the least of the least. 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