Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides)- Fides asked Sr. Gabriella Bono, Superior General of the Consolata Missionaries to comment on Pope Benedict XVI’s Angelus reflection on Sunday 24 September, when he remembered the Italian nun Sr Leonella Sgorgati, shot dead on 17 September in Mogadishu.
“Eight days after the martyrdom of love of our Sister Leonella Sgorbati on Sunday 24 September the Pope spoke of her as servant of love and therefore artisan of peace.
THANK YOU, Holy Father, for your words which moved us deeply and once again so clearly indicated the path of the Gospel.
“How many Christians in humility and silence devote their lives to serving others for the sake of the Lord”. Yes, our sisters chose to remain in Somalia, even during 16 years of war, to serve the poorest of people, the helpless, children and mothers, those most exposed to violence.
Having accepted MISSION as being a presence of life, consolation and hope in Mogadishu. they consciously offer their life to the end
At the personal level and as a Community, for Sr. Marzia Feurra, Sr. Maria Bernarda Roncacci, Sr. Annalisa Costardi, Sr. Gianna Irene Peano and Sr. Leonella Sgorbati, Yes to God is expressed in daily service among the poorest Somalis and more recently with a school for Nurses as a concrete move to provide a better future for Somalia’s youth. Life on this path has been a daily martyrdom of love, and the blood of Sr. Leonella is a seal on life offered in missionary Consecration.
And all this in silence and humility, day after day, the logical consequence of the gift of self in missionary Consecration. Logical consequence of following Jesus, as faithful and joyful disciples of the Gospel.
And in these eight days, from the silent and faithful service of love there has come a loud call, the Voice of life given without reserve: our Sister Sr. Leonella Sgorbati offered her life as a martyrdom of love in the land of Somalia she so deeply loved.
A forgotten war, that of Somalia, in the spotlight again for the sacrifice of the life of this woman with a passionate love for a people lacerated by too many years of conflict and violence.
As Missionary Sisters of the Consolata we feel the Lord knocked on the door of our family and found Sr. Leonella ready, with her lamp burning, dressed in workday clothes.....this was no surprise for her.... it was no "accident"; Sr. Leonella was prepared for her Encounter with Jesus whom she loved passionately; she seems to have felt it was time, not because of any particular threat (the situation in Somalia is always dangerous) but almost a call within her calling. She wished to live to the end with the intensity of the love for her Lord and the passion of a woman totally given to Him.
She repeated her YES of fidelity to God with the ardour of the heart of a woman determined to give everything with a smile, with positive, dynamic, enthusiasm and with tenacity (even stubbornness!), her heart open to others without limits and in total self-forgetfulness, and that joyous passion for life which marked every moment of her existence.
We hear Leonella’s pressing call to be “faithful disciples of the Gospel” she gave herself with joy to the end, seeing events of life through eyes of faith, listening attentively to the Spirit, determined not lose not even one tiny piece of the mosaic of Life and Love....because everything tells us, prompts us, to give, to build brotherhood, reconciliation, hope and peace...
With Sr. Leonella also her guard Mohamed Mahamud was killed in a last generous attempt to protect her...There was a stupendous dialogue of life in that act, overcoming barriers, giving of self for always,... Mystery of Love....Mystery of Passion and Resurrection...hope and consolation...
The gift of the lives of Sr. Leonella and of Mohamed Mahamud, prompt us to live Mission searching for paths of understanding, reconciliation and dialogue in the certainty that only when we are able to combine heart, strength and life and...blood will we be able to build the Kingdom which all believers, Muslims, Christians, all men and women are called to build together.
I forgive, I forgive, I forgive were her last words…. no one improvises at life’s end, these words came from the heart of Sr. Leonella, a heart filled with mercy and compassion, a heart bigger than herself, as we used to tell her, and from that heart to the very end came words of life, hope and true love …
Humanity’s pain and wounds, injustice and humiliation can only find an answer of life and hope in an ever greater love which gives itself and is not afraid to open the doors to Christ and to humanity. “Love is stronger than fear” Leonella said in her last interview and there was plenty of room for fear in the situation in which she lived...
Mission and martyrdom under the banner of compassion and mercy: this is what Sr. Leonella lived and this is what she leaves as a precious legacy to us the Missionaries of the Consolata, daughters of Blessed Giuseppe Allamano who used to say: “your vow must be to serve the Mission even at the cost of life”.
‘I forgive’, like the first Martyr Jesus whom Leonella chose to follow to the end... is the message of the life of a woman courageous in love, joyful and positive in self-giving, welcoming and open to all. … We feel her alive and close to us, our dear Sr. Leonella! We are truly proud to be her Sisters!
THANK YOU, Holy Father for your closeness and your encouraging words: you urge us to live intensely and radically our Consecration and you teach us to live Mission working always searching for dialogue in respect on a path of brotherhood and encounter of all peoples for the coming of the Kingdom of peace and justice”. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 27/9/2006 righe 82 parole 1070)
