Kenya: veteran Italian missionary killed during robbery

Father Giuseppe Bertaina, an 81 year-old Consolata missionary, was beaten and killed by intruders in his office on Friday morning this morning in Langata at the Consolata Institute of Philosophy where he was the Rector and administrator.

Fr Giuseppe Ettorri told MISNA the police were investigating the murder. He said it seemed that several persons entered Fr Giuseppe's second floor office while classes were taking place elsewhere in the building.

Born on October 3, 1927 in Madonna dell'Olmo, in the northern Italian Cuneo province, Fr Bertaina was ordained a priest in 1951 and worked in Kenya for more than 50 years, during which time he taught generations of students, especially among the Kikuyu people. He served as headmaster of St Mary's Secondary School of Nyeri and at the Sagana Technical Institute, and since the 90's contributed to the foundation of the Institute of Philosophy (Consolata Philosophicum).

Fr Ettori said: "Father Giuseppe was a good, generous person who dedicated his entire life to education. Unfortunately these kinds of muggings are continually on the rise and often affect an alarming number of religious institutes and other works of the Church."

Source: MISNA/FIDES