On September 30, 1995, three missionaries were killed in their residence. They are Xaverian missionaries Fr. Aldo Marchiol and Fr. Ottorino Maule; and the lay volunteer Catina Gubert. The three missionaries worked in Burundi for a long time already and had been receiving death threats from the government for speaking out for the people.
It was discovered that the government was trying to get rid of the missionaries, and if they could not get rid of them, they would be killed. Ms. Gubert has plans to go back to Italy in July, but she postponed her trip, saying, “I was thinking to come to Italy after the return of Fr. Ottorino, but how can I leave now? There is so much to do, especially now that the situation is getting worse. I don’t feel I could betray them this way. The Lord is giving me strength to endure these times, and so I stay. It might be in one, two months? Will see!” The missionaries are aware of their fates if they remained. Fr. Maule was once asked by a child, “Is it true that you are going away?” Fr. Maule replied, “We have decided to remain with you!”
The deaths of these missionaries are fruitful. In their funeral, the mother of Fr. Maule said, “Tell Father General to send new missionaries to take the place of my son, Ottorino.”
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