A bishop was murdered in his own home.
Bishop Osório Cîtora Afonso of Quelimane died on Saturday morning after gunmen shot him in the heart inside his residence, the Catholic Church confirmed. He was 54.
Catholic World News reported the killing on June 6, 2026.
The attackers, armed with an AKM-type rifle, climbed the walls of the bishop’s residence, vandalised the electrical security system, and opened fire.
No arrests have been made. Authorities are investigating.
The crime has stunned Mozambique’s Catholic community and beyond.
Born in 1972, Afonso was ordained a priest in 2002.
He later served as an official in the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization before Pope Francis appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of Maputo in 2023.
Just last July, he was installed as Bishop of Quelimane, a coastal city battling poverty and insurgency.
He spent barely a year as bishop. Colleagues describe him as a quiet pastor who moved from the corridors of Rome back to the frontlines of pastoral work in his homeland.
“The crime was committed… by individuals who climbed the wall of his residence,” Portugal’s Catholic news agency reported.
The image is haunting: a shepherd killed where he should be safest.
Mozambique’s security forces have not said if robbery, insurgency, or targeted violence motivated the attack.
For now, Quelimane mourns a bishop who returned home to serve — and was gunned down in his residence.
