AFP

A Catholic bishop appointed to a central region of Mozambique by Pope Leo XIV was shot dead at home Saturday in what the country's episcopal body called "mysterious circumstances".

Bishop Osorio Citora Afonso, 54, was shot in the chest "probably with a single bullet", a spokesman for the criminal investigations bureau, Maximino Amilcar, told reporters outside the senior clergyman's residence in the city of Quelimane.

He qualified the killing as "murder by gunshot", adding that "it is not easy at this time to give details".

The Vatican said the pope had "learned with deep sorrow of the grave act of violence that led to the death of His Excellency, Monsignor Osorio Citora Afonso".

The Episopal Conference of Mozambique said Afonso was "found lifeless and in mysterious circumstances that need to be made clear".

President mourns bishop

Mozambique's president, Daniel Chapo, issued a statement expressing his "deep sadness" at Afonso's death, calling it "an irreparable loss for Mozambican society".

Around a quarter of the population in the African country, a former Portuguese colony, is thought to be Catholic, based on the last census taken nearly a decade ago.

Afonso, born in Mozambique, served in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Italy and then as auxiliary bishop in Maputo in 2023 before being made a bishop the following year.

In July 2025 Pope Leo XIV transferred him to the diocese of Quelimane.

Mozambique bishop dead after shooting at home