Pope condemns attack that killed 4 nuns in Yemen

Pope Francis has condemned as “diabolical” a deadly attack on a care home run by missionaries in southern Yemen, where 16 people including four nuns were killed.

According to Press TV, the Vatican's Secretary of State Pietro Parolin said in a condolence message on Saturday that the pontiff is "shocked and profoundly saddened to learn of the killing of four Missionaries of Charity (nuns) and 12 others at a home for the elderly in Aden."

The pope also sent his prayers for the dead and voiced spiritual closeness to their families and to "all affected from this act of senseless and diabolical violence," Cardinal Parolin added, echoing his call for "all parties to lay down their arms."

On Friday, gunmen raided the refuge for the elderly operated by Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in the port city of Aden, killing a Yemeni guard and shooting 15 other employees.

Four foreign nuns working as nurses were among the dead, with The Vatican missionary news agency Fides identifying them as two Rwandans, a Kenyan and an Indian. The agency said the Mother Superior hid and survived while an Indian priest has gone missing.

No individual or group has so far claimed responsibility for the carnage, but sources close to Yemen’s fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi blamed it on the ISIL Takfiri terrorists.

ME