JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, APRIL 5, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The local press is calling the death of 35-year-old Sister Anne Thole a martyrdom. She died in a fire, trying to rescue AIDS patients from a burning hospice.
Sister Thole was a novice director for her order.
According to The Mercury, a local newspaper, the Maria Ratschitz Mission, outside of Dundee, caught fire on Saturday night, apparently from a patient's cigarette.
The founder of the hospice, Sister Irmingard Thalmeier, said that five of the eight patients were evacuated from the fire, which started Saturday night. Three died with Sister Thole.
Retired Dundee Bishop Michael Rowland was awakened and called to the scene. "By the time I got there, the building was blazing and we tried to put it out with garden hoses, but the wooden staircase and thatch were a column of fire," he said.
"Sister Anne was so brave," the 78-year-old prelate said. "She gave her life for the patients. She exuded tremendous joy and had a great love of her vocation. She played the guitar well, and ran the choir and sang. All the novices loved her."
Code: ZE07040502
Date: 2007-04-05