Three elderly Italian nuns were found murdered at their African convent over the weekend, African authorities and a priest said Monday.
Two of the Catholic nuns were found stabbed to death Sunday in their dormitory in a suburban parish in the capital Bujumbura, local authorities told the Agence France-Presse. A third nun was found decapitated at the same parish on Monday morning.
All three victims were raped, Burundi police told AFP.
The first two victims are identified as 75-year-old Lucia Pulici, 82-year-old Ogla Raschietti and the third 79-year-old Bernadetta Boggian.
Pope Francis was "greatly saddened" by the murders and offered his condolences to the victims' families and their order, Xavarian Missionary Sisters of Mary, Reuters reported. They were at the Burundi parish for seven years after working in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"It is very difficult to know the reason behind the killing, but nothing can justify it," Father Mario Pulcini, who is responsible for the north Bujumbura parish, told Reuters.
Pulici and Raschietti's deaths are believed to be "the tragic outcome of an armed robbery by a mentally unbalanced person," the Catholic diocese in Parma, Italy, said according to Reuters.
After the first two nuns were killed, Father Pulcini said Boggian called him Sunday night and said she heard a noise in the parish.
"The body of Sister Bernadette was found lying in a pool of blood, her head decapitated, and her face bore the signs of the beating," he told AFP.
It is not clear if robbery was behind the killings because no money was taken, police said. Witnesses say they saw a man fleeing the convent with a knife after Pulici and Raschietti were killed.
Officials believe an accomplice of the suspect remained hidden in the convent and later killed Boggian.
Two suspects have since been detained for questioning, police told Reuters.
A 2011 attempted robbery in the same central African country resulted in the murders of a Croatian nun and an Italian aid worker.
