Sr. Judith was one of four Missionaries of Charity killed in a brutal attack on their convent in Yemen March 4.
She and three other sisters – Sr. Anslem, Sr. Marguerite and Sr. Reginette – were murdered along with 16 other victims, including volunteers from Ethiopia and Yemen, when gunmen stormed their convent claiming to have relatives living there. Each victim was found handcuffed and shot in the head.
The sister who spoke with CNA recalled how she had spent one year with Sr. Judith at the formation house in Rome, and that she was "very joyous, like all from Africa, and always willing to help."
"She was very kind and full of life. We also organized apostolates together. She was a very beautiful sister, very joyful," she said.
Although she was nervous to give her testimony since she is not used to public speaking, the sister said the event at the Trevi fountain is "a beautiful testimony" of Pope Francis' constant references to "the martyrs of today."
"The world is not so much in contact with the recent news, and maybe they don't want to be, so he's putting it into the light."
Bishop Audo also voiced his hope that the event would help draw attention to the growing persecution of Christians worldwide.
In an interview with CNA, he said that lighting up such a well-known monument in Rome is "something very new and very courageous. It gives us strength in a context of difficulty and departure."
"To have such meetings and such declarations in one of the most important places in Rome is a local and international message. It really moves me."
The bishop expressed his admiration for those who both organized and spoke at the event, and said that "small things" such as this that will "help to change the world."
Bishop Audo's diocese of Aleppo has been the site of increased hostility amid Syria's ongoing civil war, already in its fifth year.
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Violence in the city reached a fever-pitch on Thursday when an airstrike on a pediatric hospital killed 50 people, including several children and doctors.
According to CNN, the Al Quds field hospital, run by Doctors Without Borders and the Red Cross, was hit by a missile from a fighter jet Wednesday night, claiming the lives of at least three children and three doctors, one of whom was the last pediatrician in the city.
Bishop Audo called the attack "a drama," and questioned the reasoning behind it, asking "why a hospital? Why children? I don't understand this."
However, he stressed that just because it made international news doesn't mean it's an isolated event. These type of attacks happen "every day, every hour, everywhere in Syria."
The world has to become aware of this, he said, instead of using the media "to make some propaganda for a serious event. This issue is bigger than a hospital."
In his personal opinion, the bishop said a political solution to the conflict is both possible and important, but voiced his belief that "there are those who don't want a political solution."