Scott1
Well-Known Member
THE MURDER of an Italian bishop in northern Kenya last week has been described as an execution by the director of the countrys Pontifical Mission Societies.
Fr Eugenio Ferrari linked the 14 July killing of Bishop Luigi Locati who had worked in Kenya for 43 years to his denouncement of tribal clashes in the north and support for charitable projects that attempted to bridge ethnic divides. The 76-year-old apostolic administrator of Isiolo was assassinated by three gunmen, who shot him through the head and jaw at point blank range as he neared his home after an evening meal. This happened despite the presence of two guards who had accompanied him since several previous attacks. Robbery was discounted as a motive by the police.
Days before the murder, at least 82 people, including 30 women and children, were massacred in the Gabra village of Turbi, 186 miles north of Isiolo near the Ethiopian border. The Borana clan was blamed for the raid, part of a long-standing feud with the Gabra clan over access to water and pastures.
Many times Bishop Locati denounced trafficking of stolen cattle and arms in the north and his death may be directly or indirectly connected with these clashes, missionary sources told Fides news agency.
Stephen Lloyd, who ran the Catholic aid agency Cafods Nairobi office for six years and met the bishop a number of times, told The Tablet this week that the bishop, a Cafod partner, was the face of the Catholic Church in an area where 95 per cent of the people are not Christian and which is the meeting place of many ethnic groups. According to Lloyd: The worsening security problems in and around Isiolo in recent years didnt stop his work on behalf of poor communities, and it is tragic that this happened when he was so close to retirement. Bishop Locati would have celebrated his seventy-seventh birthday on Sunday. The Pope expressed profound grief for a bishop whom he last met two months ago when he was in Italy on leave. It was during this trip that Bishop Locati confided in his sister that he feared for his life because he had differed with some individuals over his charitable projects. The president of Kenya, Mwai Kibaki, said his death was a great loss, and not only for Catholics and promised to track down the culprits.
Ellen Teague
www.thetablet.co.uk
Fr Eugenio Ferrari linked the 14 July killing of Bishop Luigi Locati who had worked in Kenya for 43 years to his denouncement of tribal clashes in the north and support for charitable projects that attempted to bridge ethnic divides. The 76-year-old apostolic administrator of Isiolo was assassinated by three gunmen, who shot him through the head and jaw at point blank range as he neared his home after an evening meal. This happened despite the presence of two guards who had accompanied him since several previous attacks. Robbery was discounted as a motive by the police.
Days before the murder, at least 82 people, including 30 women and children, were massacred in the Gabra village of Turbi, 186 miles north of Isiolo near the Ethiopian border. The Borana clan was blamed for the raid, part of a long-standing feud with the Gabra clan over access to water and pastures.
Many times Bishop Locati denounced trafficking of stolen cattle and arms in the north and his death may be directly or indirectly connected with these clashes, missionary sources told Fides news agency.
Stephen Lloyd, who ran the Catholic aid agency Cafods Nairobi office for six years and met the bishop a number of times, told The Tablet this week that the bishop, a Cafod partner, was the face of the Catholic Church in an area where 95 per cent of the people are not Christian and which is the meeting place of many ethnic groups. According to Lloyd: The worsening security problems in and around Isiolo in recent years didnt stop his work on behalf of poor communities, and it is tragic that this happened when he was so close to retirement. Bishop Locati would have celebrated his seventy-seventh birthday on Sunday. The Pope expressed profound grief for a bishop whom he last met two months ago when he was in Italy on leave. It was during this trip that Bishop Locati confided in his sister that he feared for his life because he had differed with some individuals over his charitable projects. The president of Kenya, Mwai Kibaki, said his death was a great loss, and not only for Catholics and promised to track down the culprits.
Ellen Teague
www.thetablet.co.uk
