Attack on Training Center of Mozambique’s Beira Archdiocese

Fear has gripped Nazaré Training Center of Mozambique’s Catholic Archdiocese of Beira following a Sunday, February 23 attack that left two Priests and  a Religious Brother at the facility seriously injured. The Conference of Religious Institutes of Mozambique told Catholic Pontifical and charity foundation, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International, that a group of men armed with pistols, machetes and irons entered the institution in the early hours of February 23, violently attacking three missionaries who were there.

According to a Tuesday, February 25 ACN report, the conference “expressed its concern about the insecurity” in the Southern African nation following the attack, and appealed for prayers for peace in the country. ACN has reported that Fr. Timothée Bationo, Fr. Valere and Friar Boaventura were “tied up and tortured by the bandits” at the institution, which engages in various activities, including formation courses for the Mozambican Catholic Archdiocese.

Fortunately, according to the February 25 ACN report, all three Religious men “are out of danger” and only suffered “minor pain and injuries”. ACN has reported that Fr. Timothée Bationo is a Priest from Burkina Faso who celebrated two decades of Priesthood on 8 December 2024, and who is currently the Episcopal Vicar for Consecrated Life of the Archdiocese of Beira. The Burkinabe Priest is responsible for the Nazaré Training Centre.

The Pontifical foundation says the attack on the Catholic institution occurred at a sensitive moment in the political life of the Portuguese-speaking African nation, which has been wreaked by political upheaval following a contested presidential election. Mozambique, ACN says, also continues to suffer from attacks by the Al Shahab militants, especially in the country’s northern province of Cabo Delgado.

In the February 25 report, ACN quotes Friar Boaventura as saying that the robbery incident was being handled security officials, who is he said are yet to provide details about the robbers, including their identity and what they might have made away with.

ACI Africa