The Episcopal Conference of Mozambique (CEM) has called on the authorities to continue the investigations to clarify the murder of Osório Citora Afonso, bishop of Quelimane and apostolic administrator of Beira, three months after the prelate was killed in his own residence. «Who exactly killed Dom Osório? Who were the moral and material authors of this violent death? What were the killer’s motives?», the bishops ask.
The Mozambican episcopate publicly raised these questions at the end of an Extraordinary Plenary Assembly held from 2 to 4 September at the St Augustine Philosophical Seminary in Matola, convened precisely to reflect on the «violent and unjust death» of the bishop. According to Ecclesia, Citora Afonso, aged 54, was shot dead on 6 June at the Episcopal House of Quelimane.
«The violent death of Dom Osório Citora Afonso, caused by murderous hands, was another heavy blow to the heart of the Catholic Church in Mozambique and continues to make us suffer», states the episcopal communiqué, signed in Matola on 4 September by Inácio Saure, archbishop of Nampula and president of the CEM.
The bishops especially emphasise that the circumstances of the crime remain unclear. «Despite the inquiries carried out so far, we know nothing from the competent authorities about what happened», they lament.
The CEM therefore asks that «the effort undertaken from the beginning by the judicial authorities in search of the truth» not be halted, in the hope that it may become «a path of hope, reconciliation and purification, capable of helping to heal this atrocious wound».
The communiqué also recalls that Leo XIV has followed the case since the first hours after the murder. The bishops thank the Pontiff for accompanying «closely the situation in Mozambique», encouraging them to transform the tragedy «into a path of conversion, purification and renewal».
The CEM further recalls the audience held on 3 July at the Vatican, at which Leo XIV received Inácio Saure; the vice-president of the Episcopal Conference, João Carlos Hatoa Nunes; and the archbishop emeritus of Beira, Claudio Dalla Zuanna. According to the episcopate, during that meeting the Pope expressed «his closeness and interest in clarifying the circumstances and causes of the death of Dom Osório Citora Afonso».
The prelates also express their solidarity with the diocese of Quelimane and announce that, given the complexity of its current pastoral governance, they have appointed two bishops to assist fraternally the apostolic administrator of Quelimane. Both will carry out the functions entrusted to them «in a spirit of communion and collaboration» and under the authority of the apostolic administrator, who is responsible for the governance of the diocese.
The assembly was preceded by the funeral rites of Januário Machaze Nhangumbe, bishop emeritus of Pemba, who died on 23 August. The bishops also remembered Cardinal Júlio Duarte Langa, bishop emeritus of Xai-Xai, who died on 3 August. With the death of both, they note, «the first generation of bishops after Mozambique’s independence has come to an end».
In the final part of the document, the episcopate maintains that the murder of Citora also obliges the Church itself to examine itself. The CEM states that there are «internal situations and challenges» at the national, diocesan, parish and community levels that must be examined «in the light of the Gospel».
«When the Church’s witness is compromised, it ceases to be a light to the world and a reflection of God’s grace and love», the bishops warn, calling for this moment to be faced as an opportunity for «moral and spiritual reconstruction and renewal» of the Church in Mozambique.