Leonella Sgorbati

"Sister" Leonella Sgorbati (9 December 1940 – 17 September 2006) was an Italian Catholic nun who was murdered shortly after controversial comments by Pope Benedict XVI concerning Islam.

Sgorbati was born in Gazzola near Piacenza, Italy, in 1940 where she spent her early life. She joined the Consolata Missionary Sisters in San Fre, Cuneo, in May 1963 and took her perpetual vows in November 1972. After a nursing course in England (1966–1968), she was appointed to Kenya, where she arrived in September 1970. From then until 1983 she served alternately at Consolata Hospital Mathari, Nyeri, and Nazareth Hospital in Kiambu on the outskirts of Nairobi. In mid-1983, Sister Leonella started her advanced studies in nursing and in 1985 became the principal tutor at the school of nursing attached to Nkubu Hospital, Meru.

In November 1993 she was elected regional superior of the Consolata Missionary Sisters in Kenya, a duty she performed for six years. After a sabbatical, in 2001 she spent several months in Mogadishu, looking at the possibility of setting up a nursing school in the hospital run by the SOS Children's Village organization. Hermann Gmeiner School of Registered Community Nursing opened in 2002, with Sister Leonella in charge. The first 34 nurses graduated from the school this year, awarded certificates and diplomas by the World Health Organization because Somalia has had no government since 1991.

Sister Leonella was keen to train tutors for the nursing school. She returned to Kenya with three of her newly graduated nurses, to register them for further training at a medical training college. She faced difficulties in obtaining her own re-entry visa to Mogadishu, due to the new rules of the Islamic courts that now control the city and its environs. She managed to return to Mogadishu on 13 September 2006. On 17 September, she was gunned down outside her children's hospital. Her bodyguard was also killed. The attack was believed to be in response to the comments made by Pope Benedict XVI but this isn't certain. Two gunmen emerged from behind nearby taxis and kiosks and shot her. She was rushed to the SOS Hospital and died shortly thereafter. Her last words apparently were “Pardono; pardono.” (“I forgive; I forgive.”)

Somalian officials vowed justice for the nun's slaying. [http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/06/09/19/10068611.html]

Two suspects were arrested and investigations were launched by Somalia's Supreme Islamic Courts Council.