Murdered Nun Like 'mom' To Parishioner

HEATHER CLARK

NAVAJO, N.M. (AP) — Sister Magdalena has returned home — empty now in the absence of a roommate who had worked so hard to empower people on the Navajo Indian Reservation.

That roommate, Sister Marguerite Bartz, was murdered there on the St. Berard Mission Church property, a killing that has rattled this impoverished reservation town and left parishioners in mourning.

The church property sits along a highway against a scenic backdrop of red rock cliffs near the New Mexico-Arizona border. Her death turned tragedy loose on a town long beset by economic hard times, with its boarded-up, graffiti-scarred houses and weed-strewn playground.

Parishioners sobbed and hugged in the church parking lot as Sister Magdalena returned Wednesday to the residence they shared.

She was in New Jersey when Sister Bartz's body was discovered Sunday. She said she now plans to move to the larger town of Fort Defiance, Ariz., 15 miles south of Navajo.

"She did a lot of counseling with people that were having difficulties," Magdalena said. "It's hard for anybody to understand the depth of what she did. She wanted so much to empower the people. She wanted them to know how good they were."