GLASSBORO — A Christmas eve trip to Bethlehem for five Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, ended tragically when a car accident took the lives of three of the women religious passengers, and left two others with serious injuries. All five were serving in Israel.
The deceased, Sister M. Salvatorina Camilleri, 67; Sister M. Valeria Briccoli. 67; and Sister M. Rania Haddad, 34, were on their way to Bethlehem to attend Christmas celebrations, after finishing up their work at the guest house and church of the Mount of the Beatitudes, where the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary were stationed.
A funeral for the three sisters was held on Wednesday, Dec. 29 at the Church of San Salvatore in Jerusalem. Burial followed at the cemetery on Mt. Zion.
Sister M. Salvatorina Camilleri is the sister of Sister M. Bianca Camilleri, FMIHM, a teacher at Good Shepherd Regional School in Collingswood. To remember her and the two others killed, a memorial Mass will be held at St. Bridget Church in Glassboro on Monday, Jan. 24, at 7 p.m., the one-month anniversary of the accident. All are welcome to attend.
Eight Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary currently serve in the Diocese of Camden.
For more information: The Franciscan Missionaries of the I.H.M., 212 Ellis Street Glassboro, NJ 08028, www.fmihm.org
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