SISTER MARGARIDA IS ALIVE (BRIEF, CHURCH/RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS)
"Sister Margarida is alive, and despite the critical situation we are living she is able to contage everyone around her with her sweet disposition". This was the declaration released this morning by Timorese Canosian Sister Esmeralda de Araujo, contacted by MISNA in Dili. Insistent rumours circulated in the last few days regarding the death, at the hands of the pro-Indonesia militias, of 81-year old Sister Margarida Paulo Soares, a prominent figure in Dili. `She is alive and well, thank God - commented Mother Ilva Fornaro, General Superior of the Canosian Sisters - and we know that she went to mass early this morning. The wide-spread news of her death had seriously saddened us. It is impossible to imagine that someone could kill Margarida, such a friendly, sweet and authentically good person. One can easily say - concluded Mother Ilva - that Sister Margarida incarnates the most authentic spirit of the cordiality and gentleness of the Timorese population". (BO)
MISNA - Missionary Service News Agency