Brother Bernard Lisson was born on August 21, 1909 in Wawelno, Poland. Father Gregor Richert was born on May 10, 1930 in Germany. In 1978, Brother Lisson was a 68-year-old mechanic and Father Richert was a 48-year-old parish priest; combined, they had served in Zimbabwe for over sixty years.
On June 27, 1978, they were shot and killed by terrorists at St. Rupert’s Mission in the Sinoia region. Three armed members of the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) forced the two men into Father Richert’s house, where a single shot followed by three shots and a burst of automatic fire were heard. St. Rupert’s Mission, where the two men had been living and serving for the five years prior to their deaths, was a combination mission and 40-bed hospital complex that catered to the needs of local tribespeople, to whom the two men were very dedicated.
Sources:
http://www.rhodesia.nl/mission.htm
http://predmore.blogspot.com/2010/06/thirteenth-sunday-in-ordinary-time.html
http://newsaints.faithweb.com/new_martyrs/Zimbabwe.htm
