An Italian Catholic church nun who worked in Kenya as a midwife is set to be made a saint by Pope Francis in May.
Sister Lionella Sgorbati, who worked in Kenya, was killed in Somalia in 2006 and is considered a martyr by the church.
She is the second Consolata nun with Kenyan roots on the course to sainthood after Sister Irene Stefani (Nyaatha), whose process of canonisation is on-going. Born in 1940 in Italy, she came to Kenya in 1970.
“For 13 years she worked in Consolata Hospital at Mathari and Nazareth Hospital in Kiambu, mainly as a midwife. She was also the head of Consolata Nursing School, Nkubu, until 1993 when she was elected the regional superior of Consolata Sisters in Kenya, a task she undertook until 1999. Under her care, about 4,000 babies were born,” says Father Joseph Mwaniki, a lecturer at Tangaza University College and an expert in the “Processes of Beatification and Canonisation”. While working at Mathari Consolata Hospital in Nyeri, her slogan was “tender loving care for pregnant women and lactating mothers”.
She would repeatedly remind nurses to give TLC (tender loving care) to mothers so that a new-born brings happiness to the mother and her family.
Sr Lucy Karweru recalls how the former principal tutor at Nkubu Hospital would give special care to first-time mothers and ensure they went through labour with ease.
“First-time mothers are usually very scared, especially because they have heard all sorts of things that happen during labour. But Sr Sgorbati worked to reduce the tension by showing them care,” she said in an interview at the hospital.
For those that experienced severe pain, she would massage their back to ease the pressure while uttering reassuring and comforting words.
She ensured that mothers-to-be didn’t go through discouraging or traumatic delivery in her bid to make childbirth memorable to them.
This was anchored on offering emotional support and physical comfort during labour and after delivery, advising mothers on how to breastfeed and hold the baby.
Since there were not many qualified nurses in Nyeri, the sister would respond to midnight calls without complaining.
“It did not matter to her that she had spent the entire day working. If woken up in the middle of the night, she would rush to the maternity wing,” Sr Lucy recalled.
As the principal tutor at Consolata Mission Hospital, Nkubu Nursing School, between 1985 and 1993, she is remembered for the high standards she set at the institution.
The Meru-based mission hospital administrator, Father Silas Mwiti, said Sister Leonella was keen on high standards of training, valued skills and knowledge and emphasised on integrity and moral uprightness.
“She was very hard working and laid a strong foundation for the nursing school,” Fr Mwiti said.
Sister Catherine Joan, the current principal tutor and a student of Sister Leonella, has fond memories of her.
“She taught us midwifery and was very social and intelligent. Sister Leonella was very keen on imparting skills on students and was very careful not to release half-baked nurses,” Sister Catherine said.
She said the students were very fond of Sister Leonella, who treated them as her daughters.
“Any time she came from leave, the students would abandon whatever they were doing to welcome her. I have never seen a teacher so close to her students,” the principal said.
In November 1993, she was elected as the regional superior of Consolata Missionary Sisters in Kenya and retained the position until 1999. She then went on sabbatical in 2000 and in
2001 she spent several months in Mogadishu, Somalia, looking at the potential for a new nursing school.
The Hermann Gmeiner School of Registered Community Nursing opened in 2002 with Sr Sgorbati in charge. The first 34 nurses graduated from the school in 2002, with the World Health Organisation awarding them certificates and diplomas since Somalia has had no substantive government since 1991. Sr Sgorbati was a fluent Somali-speaker.
According to Fr Mwaniki, on Sunday, September 17, 2006, barely four days after her arrival back in Somalia where she had gone to give classes in the medical school, two men hiding between vehicles shot her seven times. Her guard, Mohamed Mahmud, a Muslim father of four children, tried to fire back but he was shot dead, too.
“She was taken to hospital and helped by her own students; she had already lost a lot of blood and even breathing was difficult. Sr Marzia Feurra, a fellow sister, clearly heard Sr Lionella utter her last words in Italian before she died: “perdono, perdono, perdono” (I forgive, I forgive, I forgive). And this way, she offered her life for the sake of poor Somalis,” says Fr Mwaniki.
“At the imitation of Christ, Sr Lionella’s last words were forgiveness for those who killed her. This is the most authentic Christian testimony that a real martyr can give, showing the victory of love over hatred and evil.”
Her body was airlifted to Kenya where she was buried on September 21, 2006, in the cemetery of Nazareth Hospital.
Fr Mwaniki, who is in Rome to conclude his PhD in the History of the Church, says that at her death and later at her funeral, there was a widespread opinion, both in Kenya and Somalia, that she was killed because she was a Christian.
Her process of beatification officially started in 2013, and everything concluded in 2017, with the decree of Pope Francis of November 2017.
Before the Pope’s decree is promulgated, the Church requires that the servant of God be exhumed. This was done on September 30, 2017, under Bishop David Kamau of Nairobi at Nazareth Hospital cemetery. Her remains are now in the Chapel of Flora Hostels which, after the beatification, will become another centre for devotion by the faithful.
Sister Joan Agnes Matimu, the regional superior for Consolata Sisters, says it is an honour for Consolata Sisters to have two saints from their congregation in Kenya.
“We may not have been there when Sister Stefani was here, but Sister Lionella was one of us. When I joined Consolata Nursing School in Nkubu, she welcomed me. And when I took my first vows as sister, she received me. We ate and cried together, we agreed and disagreed. But in the end, she taught us to work for humanity and spread the word of Jesus Christ. We are proud of this achievement,” she said.
The beatification comes after that of Sister Irene “Nyaatha” who was declared “Blessed” in May 2015 at a big ceremony in Nyeri. Nyaatha took her vows on January 12, 1912, where she became Sr Irene Stefani.
After completing her novitiate on January 29, 1914, she became a full Consolata missionary. With three other young sisters, she left for Kenya on December 28, 1914, arriving in January during the First World War. She was posted to Gikondi, Nyeri.
Later, she joined other missionaries as a Red Cross volunteer in Voi. Inevitably, she succumbed to plague at 39 years on August 31, 1930.
