"At first the responsibility was laid at the feet of the Islamic community, but now there are elements that point to a political plot, with connections between certain political groups and the extremists who set off the bombs.”

The extremists sprayed anti-Christian graffiti on the walls of the nearby Chapel of the Immaculate Conception.The slogans, some in German, read: “O, you [expletive] slaves of the Cross, we will kill you all… You dirty people, you do not belong here.”

“My coming to the seminary led some of my relatives to shun us. I can remember one of them saying to my father that if anything happened to any of us, we should not call him.” 

He tries to convey to the faithful – and to the soldiers – that there is nothing sacred about anger, nothing good, and reminds them that Christ forgave those who killed him “for they know not what they do,” while Our Lady prayed in silence.

The nuns estimate that to date more than 500 people have passed through their monastery. “Currently the monastery mostly hosts those who do not plan to go abroad, and some of them don’t have a home to return to either. Now we have 75 people here.

"Now the situation is quite tough, this is a very difficult time, a time of darkness."