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Today’s missionary hero is Nadia de Munari who gave her life serving poor children.
Nadia was a lay missionary woman from Italy who was part of Operation Mato Grosso, a non-government group founded by Fr. Ugo di Censi in Italy to serve the poor, especially in selected countries of South America. The missionaries are primarily Italian young people.
In 1990, as a young woman in her mid-20s, Nadia joined Mato Grosso and spent five years as a lay missionary in Ecuador. In 1995, Nadia went to Peru, and there, for the next 30 years of her life, she served the poorest of the poor. Until her death in 2021, Nadia was responsible for six kindergartens, an elementary school, and a dining room. Nadia had 500 children under her care. She also provided food and other assistance to poor children and mothers. The town where she served was Nuevo Chimbote.
Sometime during the night of April 20, 2021, Nadia was assaulted in her bedroom at the Mamma Mia house, a facility of Operation Mato Grosso. When she didn’t appear at breakfast on the morning of Wednesday, April 21, teachers went to her room where they found her unconscious in a pool of blood with several head injuries. She was taken to a regional hospital. There, she was diagnosed as having fractures to her jaw, forearm, and neck, and lacerations to her head and face. She was transferred to a clinic in Lima where she died on Sunday, April 24, 2021. She was 50 years old.
There are many unknown aspects of Nadia’s murder. For one, why would anyone want to kill a lay missionary who wanted nothing more than to serve poor children and others? Second, why would the killer, or killers, take her two cell phones and not search her dresser drawers where she kept her money?
The murder of lay missionary Nadia de Munari was not the only person of Operation Mato Grosso to be targeted. For example, in 1992, another Mato Grosso lay missionary, 30-year old Giulio Rocca, was killed by the Shining Path. And in 1997, a Mato Grosso priest, 35-year old Fr. Daniele Badiali, was killed by masked persons.
