In Mogadishu, the capital of the former Italian colony of Somalia, an Italian nun died after being shot several times in an ambush in a hospital in which a Somali bodyguard was also killed. It was unclear if the attack was retribution for the pope’s remarks, although the Vatican issued a response.
The Rev. Federico Lombardi, the chief Vatican spokesman, was quoted by the ANSA news agency as calling the killing “horrible.” “We hope it remains an isolated incident,” he said.