VATICAN - The Prefect and the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples send telegramme of sympathy on the death of elderly Missionary shot dead in Angola

Vatican City (Fides Service)- The Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe and the secretary Archbishop Robert Sarah, sent a telegramme of sympathy to the Archbishop of Huambo (Angola) and to Rev Fr. Jean-Paul Hoch, Superior General of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, for the death of Portuguese Spiritan missionary Fr José Afonso Moreira, aged 80, shot dead yesterday 9 February in Bailundo, 60 km north of Huambo, in Angola (see Fides 9 February 2006).
The telegramme expresses “on behalf of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples profound sympathy for the grave loss of a generous servant of the Gospel. May the blood shed by Fr. José Afonso Moreira be a seed of Christian forgiveness, faith, hope and charity. We assure fervent prayers for the eternal repose of this elect soul who for forty years served the cause of the Gospel in the heart of Africa”. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 10/2/2006 righe 17 parole 178)