Vatican City, Nov 10, 2017 / 20:13 pm
An Italian nun killed in Somalia in 2006 has been officially recognized as a martyr, as Pope Francis moved her cause for beatification forward this week.
Sister Leonella Sgorbati and her Muslim bodyguard, Mohamed Osman Mahamud, were ambushed outside of a hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia. Sister Sgorbati was a Consolata Missionary and spent most of her time in Africa, where she taught nursing and aided the sick.
On Wednesday, Pope Francis declared Sister Sgorbati a martyr for the faith, and advanced the causes of several other men and women.
Born Rosa Maria Sgorbati in 1940, the Italian religious felt a strong call to enter the convent from her childhood, but waited until age 20 to enter, heeding her mother's requests.