Gunmen kill Mozambican Catholic bishop in fatal attack

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Mozambique

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A Catholic bishop appointed to a central region of Mozambique by Pope Leo XIV was shot dead at home Saturday in what the country’s episcopal body called “mysterious circumstances”.

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Bishop Osorio Citora Afonso, 54, was shot in the chest “probably with a single bullet”, a spokesman for the criminal investigations bureau, Maximino Amilcar, told reporters outside the senior clergyman’s residence in Quelimane.

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He qualified the killing as “murder by gunshot”, adding that “it is not easy at this time to give details”.

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Mozambique’s president, Daniel Chapo, issued a statement expressing his “deep sadness” at Afonso’s death, calling it “an irreparable loss for Mozambican society”.

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Around a quarter of the population in the African country, a former Portuguese colony, is thought to be Catholic, based on the last census taken nearly a decade ago.

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Afonso, born in Mozambique, served in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Italy and then as auxiliary bishop in Maputo in 2023 before being made a bishop the following year.

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In July 2025, Pope Leo XIV transferred him to the diocese of Quelimane.

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The Episcopal Conference of Mozambique said Afonso was “found lifeless and in mysterious circumstances that need to be made clear”.

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AFP

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