The Catholic Church in Aden and the Missionaries of Charity
Aden keeps one of the oldest and most painful Christian memories of the Arabian peninsula. The episcopal seat of the Catholic mission of Arabia since the end of the 19th century, the city retains the proto- cathedral of San Francisco de Assisi and is now the land of a silent testimony: that of the Missionaries of the Charity of Mother Teresa, four of which were killed on 4 March 2016 while serving the elders.
🌹 Wonders and anecdotes
- The proto- cathedral of San Francisco de Assis, in the district of Tawahi (Steamer Point), was the seat of the Apostolic Vicariate of Arabia from 1892 to 1974, when the headquarters moved to Abu Dabi; today Aden belongs to the Apostolic Vicariate of South Arabia.
- The Missionaries of Charity have been present in Yemen since 1973 and have served since 1992 a residence of the elderly and persons with disabilities in Aden, serving all without distinction of religion.
- On 4 March 2016, an armed command attacked the residence and killed sixteen people: the Anselm sisters (India), Judith (Kenya), Marguerite and Reginette (Rwanda) and twelve collaborators; the Superior, Sister Sally, survived. Pope Francis recalled them as "the martyrs of today."
- On the same day, Father Tom Uzhunnalil, a Salesian priest serving the community, was kidnapped; he remained captive for more than a year and was released in September 2017. In March 2026, the tenth anniversary, the apostolic vicar Paolo Martinelli presided over the commemorative mass at the Cathedral of San José in Abu Dabi.
Mártires de Adén
In Aden, next to the ancient proto- cathedral of San Francisco de Assis, the Church is still alive in the hidden service of the Missionaries of Charity. Four sisters delivered their lives there on March 4, 2016 without abandoning their elders: a testimony that the Church of the Vicariate of South Arabia holds as a seed of peace.
"The Queen of the Martyrs, pray for the Church that serves in Aden.
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