A French-Spanish nun has been brutally murdered in a village in the Central African Republic where she taught sewing to young girls, the Vatican said Wednesday.

The 77-year old was found beheaded early Monday according to the Vatican News website, while a bishop in CAR who hails from the same diocese in Spain as the nun said her throat had been slit. </s> PARIS - A 77-year-old French-Spanish nun has been killed in Central African Republic, where she taught poor schoolgirls.

The diocese of Albi in southern France said in a statement that Sister Ines Nieves Sancho was found decapitated near Berberati.

The reason for the attack is unclear. Local media said it occurred in the village of Nola, in the southwest near the border with Cameroon.

Because of the heat, the diocese says, she was buried immediately instead of being repatriated to France.

Pope Francis led thousands of people in prayer on Wednesday for Nieves Sancho, saying she was “barbarously killed” in the place where she taught. </s> A French-Spanish nun has been brutally murdered in a village in the Central African Republic where she taught sewing to young girls, the Vatican said Wednesday.

The 77-year old was found beheaded early Monday according to the Vatican News website, while a bishop in CAR said her throat had been slit.

Pope Francis paid tribute to the nun on Wednesday, describing the murder of a woman "who gave her life for Jesus in the service of the poor" as "barbaric".

He called for those gathered in Saint Peter's Square for his weekly general audience to pray in silence for her. </s> A 77-year-old French-Spanish nun has been killed in Central African Republic, where she taught poor schoolgirls.

The diocese of Albi in southern France said in a statement that Sister Ines Nieves Sancho was found decapitated near Berberati.

The reason for the attack is unclear. Local media said it occurred in the village of Nola, in the southwest near the border with Cameroon.

Because of the heat, the diocese says, she was buried immediately instead of being repatriated to France.

Pope Francis led thousands of people in prayer on Wednesday for Nieves Sancho, saying she was "barbarously killed" in the place where she taught.

Central African Republic has seen deadly violence since 2013, often along sectarian lines. Many hoped a peace agreement in February would be a turning point. </s> A French-Spanish nun has been brutally murdered in a village in the Central African Republic where she taught sewing to young girls, the Vatican said today.

Sister Ines Nieves Sancho, 77, was found beheaded early on Monday according to the Vatican News website, while a bishop in CAR said her throat had been slit.

'According to a local member of parliament, the murder could be linked to trafficking in human organs,' the site adds.

Village MP, Jean Marque Djokou said that the beheading is likely to be for human organ trafficking because it took place in Nola, a village known for murder recurrences and cases of organ trafficking.

Pope Francis paid tribute to the nun on Wednesday, describing the murder of a woman 'who gave her life for Jesus in the service of the poor' as 'barbaric'.

He called for those gathered in Saint Peter's Square for his weekly general audience to pray in silence for her.

'Her attackers broke into her room on the night between Sunday and Monday and took her to the centre she was running for the young girls, where they beheaded her,' Vatican News said.

A spokesman for the diocese of Burgos in Spain told AFP a bishop in the Central African Republic had described the state of the nun's body.

'They cut her neck to the point of killing her, but they didn't cut off her head completely,' he said. </s> A French-Spanish nun has been brutally murdered in a village in the Central African Republic where she taught sewing to young girls, the Vatican said Wednesday.

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The 77-year old was found beheaded early Monday according to the Vatican News website, while a bishop in CAR who hails from the same diocese in Spain as the nun said her throat had been slit.

Pope Francis paid tribute to the nun on Wednesday, describing the murder of a woman "who gave her life for Jesus in the service of the poor" as "barbaric".

He called for those gathered in Saint Peter's Square for his weekly general audience to pray in silence for her.

"Her attackers broke into her room on the night between Sunday and Monday and took her to the centre she was running for the young girls, where they beheaded her," Vatican News said.

"According to a local member of parliament, the murder could be linked to trafficking in human organs," the site adds.

A spokesman for the diocese of Burgos in Spain told AFP a bishop in the Central African Republic had described the state of the nun's body.

"They cut her neck to the point of killing her, but they didn't cut off her head completely," he said.

(AFP) </s> BANGUI, Central African Republic — A 77-year-old French-Spanish nun who taught impoverished women and girls in volatile Central African Republic has been decapitated, local authorities said Wednesday.

Sister Ines Nieves Sancho's body was found early Monday in the village of Nola, located in the remote southwest near the borders with Cameroon and the Republic of Congo.

Local authorities condemned the killing but suggested it may not be linked to the ongoing sectarian bloodshed between militia groups that first engulfed the country in 2013.

"Elsewhere it's the rebels who kill, but in Nola people kill to get rich," said Jean Marc Ndoukou, an official in the village located about 135 kilometers (83 miles) from Berberati, the country's third largest city and traditionally a center of diamond production.

Authorities also said ritual crimes are not uncommon in and around Nola and perpetrators are rarely punished.

Ndoukou vowed that the unknown attackers would be punished, and the country's parliament called for an investigation.

On Wednesday, Pope Francis led thousands of people in prayer for Nieves Sancho, saying she was "barbarously killed" in the place where she taught. The Vatican said she had worked with the poor for decades.

Sectarian violence exploded in Central African Republic in late 2013 after mostly Christian and animist militia fighters retaliated against Muslim civilians following a brutal rule by a mostly Muslim rebel government. Violence engulfed the capital and the southwest where an untold number of Muslims were slaughtered as they attempted to flee to Cameroon.

A presidential election was held during a period of relative peace in 2016 though instability later returned to many parts of the country. Despite several peace agreements, including one earlier this year, the country remains plagued by conflict. </s> Vatican City, May 22 - Pope Francis at his weekly general audience Wednesday remembered a nun killed and decapitated in the Central African Republic on Monday. The headless body of Spanish nun Ines Nieves Sancho, 77, was found in the village of Nola near Berberati. "I'd like to remember with you," the pope told his audience, "Sister Ines Nieves Sancho, 77, an educator of poor girls for decades, barbarically killed in central Africa right in the place where she taught the girls to sew". He described her as "one more woman who gave her life for Jesus in the service of the poor. "Let us pray together," the pope told French-speaking faithful. The reasons for the nun's murder are unknown and no one has so far claimed responsibility for it. </s> VATICAN CITY, May 22 — A French-Spanish nun has been brutally murdered in a village in the Central African Republic where she taught sewing to young girls, the Vatican said today.

The 77-year old was found beheaded early Monday in the southwestern town of Nola according to the Vatican News website, while a bishop in CAR said her throat had been slit.

Pope Francis paid tribute to the nun today, describing the murder of a woman “who gave her life for Jesus in the service of the poor” as “barbaric”.

He called for those gathered in Saint Peter’s Square for his weekly general audience to pray in silence for her.

“Her attackers broke into her room on the night between Sunday and Monday and took her to the centre she was running for the young girls, where they beheaded her,” Vatican News said.

“According to a local member of parliament, the murder could be linked to trafficking in human organs,” the site adds.

A spokesman for the diocese of Burgos in Spain told AFP a bishop in the Central African Republic had described the state of the nun’s body.

“They cut her neck to the point of killing her, but they didn’t cut off her head completely,” he said.

The bishop said the motives for her murder were not known and “no terrorist organisation” has claimed responsibility for it, the spokesman added.

The bishop of the diocese of Berberati led the funeral for Ines Nieves Sancho on Tuesday, he said.

The vice general of the diocese of Berberati, Isaie Koffia, told AFP that the nun was murdered on Sunday afternoon.

“Strangers entered the back gate and dragged her into the bush behind the house to slaughter her. They did not take anything at all, they just came to kill her,” he added.

The nun belonged to the small congregation of the “Filles de Jesus”, or “Daughters of Jesus”, which is based in Massac-Seran in southwestern France.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez took to Twitter to express his “condolences and affection for Ines’ family” as well as for a Spanish missionary, Fernando Hernandez, who was killed on Saturday in Burkina Faso.

Hernandez, a 60-year-old member of the Salesian congregation in Bobo-Dioulasso, “was attacked by knives by a former employee who was fired two months ago,” according to the website of the Salesian congregation, salesianos.info.

He is the second Salesian to have been murdered in Burkina Faso this year. In February Antonio Cesar Fernandez, 72, was the victim of a “jihadist attack”, according to the website.

CAR has been struggling to recover from the bloodletting that erupted when former president Francois Bozize, a Christian, was overthrown in 2013 by mainly-Muslim Seleka rebels.

Armed groups, typically claiming to defend an ethnic or religious group, control about 80 percent of the CAR, often fighting over access to the country’s mineral wealth.

Thousands have lost their lives, nearly 650,000 have fled their homes and another 575,000 have left the country, according to UN figures as of December last year. — AFP
A French nun is found decapitated in a village in the Central African Republic.